Fuel prices and idling.

Sitting in Fontana this past Monday night. Beautiful sleeping weather. Mid 50's, and all you hear is trucks idling. Crazy. But like the one driver said, they have a refridge running, and the TV going and what not. Ahhhh the Old days. a 12V TV and oh yeah, I remember when they came out with the cooler that plugged into a cig. lighter.
But that was way back when I drove a cabover Freight Shaker with a 290 Cummings

 

Actually. I was going to chime in with an APU posting. That's the way to go, if powering up appliances that are needed.

 

When you take your 36 hours off do you sleep for that entire time? Ohh thats right your probly home every week, so you look at it as if you are in your truck you are either driving or sleeping.

I stay out on the road 3-7 months at a time. I dont like hotels, I love the inside of my truck, my bed is very comfortable, my excecutive office chair is very comfortable, My 32"TV and 5.1 surround sound are very nice, And my gaming desktop and 23" monitor keep me very happy when not driving.

Which turns out to be allot of time for me. As a bedbugger I might spend an entire week in the same city, Only going out to residence for 5 hours each day to load different jobs then back to the truck stops for 18 hours. Now I dont plan on sleeping for 18 hours, Instead I am going to sit on my computer and play video games for 10 hours. Which is going to require me to idle my truck, or drian the batteries. Sure when I go to bed I will shut the truck off, its nice outside. But I gota have my power when I am awake. I would not nearly enjoy my life as a trucker if I could not.

 

To each his own. I'm an owner op and I idle my truck when I feel I need to. Everyone has their own opinion on this subject. I was in Force Recon so I can deal with just about any weather but it comes a time when safety plays apart in trying to save a buck or sleeping in your comfort zone. IMHO.

 

i run a generator and thats only becasue my fridge came with my truck..plus i dont waste a ton of fuel if i want to run the ac or heat...Fuel is my biggest overhead

 

They aren't really cost effectve,

unless you idle an awful lot.......

 

Last week in Pa walking around the front of a Love's to go inside, this guy calls to me from his pickup. He asks if I'm going to be there awhile- I tell him "No, sorry- I'm headed inside". He asks if I can stay a minute and watch his pickup truck. He's standing outside the door with the engine running. I say "UH- you know you can lock it and take the key with you, right?" He says "It's got one of those Diesel engines, you're not supposed to cut it off".

You can't negotiate with intellectually challenged people.