Sleeping in truck in winter

5 or 10 a good sleeping bag works for me when it gets -10 and colder I fire up the motor and run the heater.

 

now days alot of trucks have what is called an APU (google it). That keeps the motor warm and the heater working in the truck. The sleeper has heat and A/C so you will stay warm and toasty or cool and comfy depending on the time of year. In the old days we idled the motor of the truck. with the price of fuel and new laws it is getting cost preventive to do that. A trucks engine uses about 3gallons an hour idling the APU uses about a pint. as long as it isn't below freezing I have enough blankets to keep me warm. I will get up and start the truck and go back to bed till it is warm in the sleeper.if it is below freezing then you have to keep the engine warm some how so it doesn't get harmed.

 

APUs suck and in the future i will never work for another company that uses them. I would rather risk fines for idling. APUs are a total joke for the following reasons:

1) Big companies don't give a #### if it works or not. If it breaks down, oh, take it to a terminal and wait for days for us to deal with it because we dont care. Not authorized to go to a dealer and get it taken care of in a timely matter. Company mechanic has to look at before approving a dealer, etc.

2) The carriers i have had break ALL THE TIME.

3) They are mounted where blind side backing down a hill can cause the apu to strike the trailer. Gawd, they could have properly engineered it..

4) The companies set the trucks up so that they can not idle more than 5 minutes. Well, thats fine until the apu stops working. The worst example of this is the clima-cab electric unit. Basically it adds a set of deep cycle batteries to the truck to run an electric ac/heater. Problem is that it only lasts for between 8 and 10 hours. After it runs out, cant idle to charge it...

See any problems with any of these?

By the way, you dont need an apu to keep the truck warm in the winter. A lot of companies have a little furnace that runs off diesel fuel from the fuel tanks, the only problem is the fan runs off the truck batteries and runs them down after a while.

Problem is i can sleep in the cold but not the hot. I can sleep as long as its above +5 degrees F, i cant sleep if its over 65....but i have a black truck and it gets hot fast....

 

I used an electric mattress pad that plugged into the cigarette lighter, and a sleeping bag. Before getting out of the bag, I turned on the gasoline fired engine coolant warmer that took about 20 minutes to bring the diesel to starting temperature. I also turned on the propane catalytic cab heater that was designed for construction equipment. That is how owner operators did it in the 1970s. Between loads, I usually stayed in a motel or commercial hotel at company expense.

Sleeping during the summer was a bigger problem. I relocated the passenger squirrel cage blower from beneath the passenger seat to the wall inside the sleeper at one of the vents.

 

Freightliner has an Opti-Idle system. You set the temp in the bunk and it automatically starts and stops the engine to maintain that temp (heat or cool). The bad part is that you are idling and it counts against your idle time. Also, it takes a little getting used to when you're asleep and the engine starts, but I did alot of reefer work so I was used to it. The good side is that it charges your batteries up.

Volvo has a heater that runs off diesel fuel (Wabash?). No cooling without idle.

Newer KW's have an extended battery system that heats and cools for 10 hrs.

Heated mattress pads (12v) can help, but do draw down battery power.

 

Palazon, the volvo heater you're thinking of is a Wabasto...but there's multiple companies that make it and it can be put in any truck....the thermoking tripac apus also use it for heat. The battery system you're talking about is the same thing. Can be put in any truck. The new internationals werner is buying have it. I keep talking to drivers who claim it does not last a whole 10 hours though.. :/