Trucker’s invention now a Mack option

Wow! That sounds neat!!

 

I don't mean to sound like a downer, but as a not-yet-trucker I am shocked that in 2007 this is a "new" feature... Like all the manufacturers and companies never thought that idling a 450hp engine might not be necessary just to air condition a space the size of a walk in closet?

...Makes ya wonder...

-HF

 

Great. Now the companies just need to purchase it for their trucks.

 

Well keep in mind that up until about 5-10 years ago, fuel was cheap and anti-idling ordinances were scarce.

 

Yeah... but cheap is relative... Wasn't Rudolph Diesel's stated motivation when he invented his version of the internal combustion engine over 110yrs ago to save the world from impending fuel shortage? Would there even be a Trucking industry were it not for this extreme foresight?

I just find this case surprising given the extent modern corporations have been known to go to just to save a few fractions of a percent on cost.

-HF

 

From what I understand, he originally developed his engine for small scale local industry and craftsmen as a way to compete with larger industrial giants, mainly because it could run on cheaper fuel, even vegetable oil. He did mention the use of vegetable and coal dust fuels as an alternative to petroleum, but it seems he saw it more as a cost cutting initiative than saving the world from a fuel shortage.

Then again, while he created a master piece, he was a bit of a paranoid nutcase.

 

You mean the NITE system? Sounds similar but I think the main difference is that the NITE System currently can't be run off of anything other than the battery system.