Idling, political correctness and you.

I'm idling nonstop right now due to a bad starter and I also use idleair on occasion but I wouldn't waste my money hooking up to idleair right now, then again my primary reason for using idleair is the HVAC, as I don't have a tv and use my mobile data plan for internet. .

Otherwise unless its really hot or below freezing, I'll shut down. I actually feel bad about all this idling, even though it's necessary right now.

 

I'm neither educated nor intelligent, but thanks for pointing it out anyway.

*****


"The scientific view is: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has looked at every single piece of research, combined the result of thousands of studies by tens of thousands of scientists in the biggest collaborative scientific endeavor undertaken by the human race. Their published conclusion is that it is more than 90% likely that humans are causing climate change. The scientists on the panel have stated they would have set the probability even higher, but this was opposed by the politicians and business representatives."

Other scientific support - in polls human caused climate change is supported by over 90% of all scientists, more than 95% of all "hard" scientists (as distinct from those in the social sciences who have no specific relevant areas of expertise), and over 99% of those with expertise in climate and related fields.

Those who deny human climate change claim they have science to prove it, but there is NOT ONE SINGLE published study that disproves it, that has not been shown to be based on seriously flawed data or total misrepresentation of data.

We do not its almost certainly (99.9% certain) NOT the sun or some mysterious unknown astronomical influence - we understand the sun and astronomy quite well, and even though we don't understand all the process that generate astronomical effects we can measure what influence they have in our vicinity.
The sun is indeed in a quiescent phase, which will have had a cooling effect over the past few years - this is actually bad news because it means the warming we have already seen would have been worse if the coolness of the sun wasn't counter-balancing it. When the sun moves into a "normal" phase things will get even worse.

*****

Climate change has been around well before we started burning fossil fuels, and I'm fully aware of this. Like I said in my first reply, I would look at an APU from a "overall cost of ownership" standpoint in lieu of some "tree hugging holier-than thou" perspective. I personally believe that human caused climate change is real.

Should I ever invest into equipment down the road, I would probably lean towards something pre-2004 anyway, and just make sure it's tuned and running healthy. Hell, I would probably tweak and tune it, as long as I could still figure out a way to pass a snap test and meet the standards expected of it.

And...... if I was operating in -40 windchill, it would idle.

 

I was not implying that you were unintelligent, I was just pointing out that being highly EDUCATED does not qualify one as intelligent nor does it disqualify on as intelligent. Educated and intelligent are two completely different things. I do, however, suspect that you are, indeed educated. Anyone that is "highly read" and that reading is not comprised mostly of fiction, is educated. Anytime you read something that you didn't know before, you are being educated. Bear in mind that not all education is legitimate. There was a time when the greatest minds of the day taught people that the world was flat.

 

Point taken. Maybe "self educated...."

I think the scam within the human caused global crisis is that we aren't finding a level of consistency towards it. We're not attacking the problem by running smarter. We're just attacking it by producing more and more, and we still squander foolishly what we get.

And then we spend all this energy lobbying against those evil oil companies - one extreme to the next. From the tree hugger to the guy with the bumper sticker that says, "I'd drill through a polar bears *** if it meant cheaper fuel...."

I was highly tempted to get in on the cash cow that fracking and oil exploration pays, and then I wrestle with bouts of conscience with regard to what price we are going to pay for it down the road as far as the damage we do to the planet. I'll be dead and long gone, but my kids and grand-kids won't.

I know that natural gas exploration has very little to do with oil consumption in the grand scheme of things, but the transportation industry sure has a huge impact on what is consumed overall.

To not try and stray off topic, there is roughly 2 million tractor trailers in this country. Let's be conservative and say that 40% of them consistently idle overnight during the course of the year and spend 300 nights per year doing so for 10 hours each. That's 2,400,000,000 gallons of fuel factoring at 1 GPH. Since one 42 gallon barrel of oil refines down to 9.83 gallons of diesel, you're looking at having to produce 10,254,323,499 barrels of crude to idle those puppies.

Break it down to one truck using those same numbers - fuel is ranging from $3.88 to $4.10 right now - lets call it $4 for giggles. That's $12,000 per truck, and if you want to look at the big picture once again - it's $9,600,000,000 (that's billion) keepin' those piggy's warm and the Mountain Dews cold.

I know you bought 3 Webastos last year, and good for you. Smart businessman, it's how I would do it.

But for the company hands who just shrug and go, "Eh, fuggit, it's not my dime...." I kind of find it distressing, because the transportation industry could make a huge difference in our dependence on oil with a little personal accountability.

Or for the guy ... who bypasses all his emissions that are "robbing" him of fuel mileage, but then sits there and blows it out the stack and can't see the common sense in:

1. An APU built with today's technology.
2. A stout set of batteries, good alternator, and a dependable truck.
3. A heavy duty well built starter that doesn't mind being used more than twice a year.....
4. Not having to rebuild your engine possibly for another 3-4 years due to saved wear and tear. That KW may have 800,000 on the dial, but if it's been idling for the last 6 years, lets call it 1,400,000. I know idle vs. working doesn't put the same stress on components, but it counts for something. Okay, we'll call it 1,200,000.


I just don't get it.

 

I am a horrible person I idle allot. I would love an APU. Infact an APU would probly save me allot of money. I am probly the ideal person to have an APU. However the cost of puting one on my truck has been prohibative. I always tell myself I am going to save up and get one installed, but it always seems as if somthing else comes up. For instance I was going to put one on this winter. but this sumer I ended up having todo an inframe and transmission. So that ate up all the savings.

So why do I idle? power. I have two things in life. Driving and Gaming. And my gaming rig uses allot of power. I only get about 3 hours of the truck being off before the batteries go dead with my computer on. And if I was to constantly drain the batteries like that I bet the life of them would only be around 6 months. Plus I would probly run the risk of dead batteries several times, and having to pay for a jump. So anytime I plan on playing games on my comp I run the truck. If all I am going todo is surf the web for an hour before bed, sure I will leave the truck off.

For most of the year I shut my truck off when I go to bed. I dont like idling my truck. it uses exspensive fuel, it pollutes, It uses up a non-renuable commodity, it makes noise other drivers may not appriciate, and it also puts wear and tear on equipment I have to maintain. But in order to have any sort of life past driving, it is a necity for me. You may not have to idle, You may not be able to idle, But I need to.

So yes my name is John, and I am a cronic idlier.

Also as far as fuel consumption goes. Everyone always says ohh it uses 1 gal per hour. Yes that might be the case when its 100 degrees outside in the middle of the day with the sun shinning down on you so you have to up the idle to 1000rpm. But generaly I stay in the 600-800rpm range. And unless I am running the AC my fuel consumption is .5 gallons per hour. That is what the dash read out says. and I have tested that figure over a 3 day idle period.

 

LOL!

We could form a chapter of idlers anonymous. Look, I realize a lot of folks in truckin' aren't in a position to plunk down the clams to get an APU - and they just barely get by.

But I think if you sat down with a calculator and a piece of paper and figured out what it is costing you - it would be a move in the right direction. LTK got a $300 tax credit per unit in Canada, and I'm not too sure what the good old USA is doing, but we should be in line with that.

Well, that would literally cut my figures above in half if it was 1/2 gal per hour. Regardless, I was just trying to paint a bigger picture.

 

The opposite of educated is ignorant.
The opposite of intelligent is dumb.

Experience is the best education.

 

On subject, Americans are just a bunch of fat, selfish, lazy slobs who are bound and determined to suck up every last drop of oil on earth as fast as they can!

Generally speaking....... JMHO

 

Actually, the opposite of "intelligent" is stupid. Dumb is one who can't speak.

Absolutely true. However, the most reliable education is that gained from the experience of failure rather than success.

 

When calculating the cost of idling, I add $1 per engine hour for wear and tear. 25000 engine hours to a $25000 in frame.