Kicked Out By IdleAire???

I have parked there several times. Behind the idle air is usually 1 or 2 holes there between the wall and the baracades.

 

I hear that. But whats diff about the close spots being taken first? And they are point is, those are for paid parking. Its an added benefit for it to be close. I just think its a good idea and a good service that they provide. I find it silly that drivers look at it as rude! Its air/heat, cable, phone, Internet, and silence! Just because I don't like to eat Indian food, does not mean I think its rude for them to build one in the mall corner and reserve parking stalls.

 

I'd like to first say that I'm the IdleAire "regional contact" for the Mt.Vernon, IL site referenced by Roadkill. My title is actually site manager, of that site only. I've managed it since we opened on December 29, 2006. The entire time we've been open, I've preached to all my people, take care of the drivers, find them a place to park wether it's in our spaces or not. We recognize your need to get off the road. We understand you've had 12-15 hours of dealing with idiots on the road & at loading docks, and everybody & their brother trying to get in your pocket when you walk into the TS. I remember speaking to Roadkill. He returned my call while I was doing some yard work # home, & I spoke to him for about 30-45 minutes, I think. If he'd of been able to give me some sort of description of who told him he couldn't park at my site, I'd have disciplined that person. Instead, I had to settle for reiterating to all my people that EVERY driver needs a place to park, come hell or high water. FWIW, IdleAire never goes into a lot with less than 125 parking spaces. At my site, we take up 37% of the available lined parking spaces, and mine is a pretty small site. For comparison, the Petro in Effingham, IL has about 286 total spaces, with 60 being IdleAire; TA in Effingham, IL has about 175 total, 60 IdleAire; Petro in Kingdom City, MO 194 total, 84 IdleAire; Petro Weatherford, TX 264 total, 57 IA; Boonville, MO 132 total, 51 IA; Pilot East St.Louis 204 total, 81 IA. As you can see, we DO NOT have half the parking anywhere. I'm doing everything I can to ensure no driver ever goes w/o a place to park when they come to my site, and corporate is pushing that same philosophy everywhere. We were created in the first place by the brother-in-law of a truck driver who wanted the comforts of home while on the road. We're still working on getting the smoke smell out of our modules after a heavy smoker has occupied one; I encourage any non-smokers to tell their friendly IA rep (they better be friendly) that the smell of smoke bothers them and ask that they be given a module which doesn't smell. Many of the sleepers on your trucks don't provide a clear passageway for the AC/Heat to go through, the solution in most cases is a small fan mounted on the dash to push the conditioned air back to you, as well as aiming the vent on the out-take in that direction. No air from the outside is blown into the truck(s). Our system is contained, and takes the air from the inside of your truck, filters it and passes it under UV lights to kill germs and bacteria (I think 99.7% is the quote), so the exhaust from the truck idling next to you won't go into your system to your truck's interior. We did have a problem last year with modules not getting warm enough - it was due to heater coils going out & not being able to get enough in fast enough to replace them. We've fixed that problem by stocking up & being prepared, it shouldn't be a problem this year. We've had a problem with modules not cooling enough due to ice forming on the inside when they're set to 65 - not sure what the fix is for this, but I do know corporate has one in play. Our basic service includes heat/AC, 20 channels of satelite TV, phone service, 120 VAC (2 circuits), and touch screen internet. After reading all 9 pages (at 4am), I've tried to respond to each of the concerns you've all brought up. If I've missed any, please PM me or respond, and I'll respond to it. If anyone has any further questions, please feel free to PM me. If you'd rather talk on the phone, include your number - calling on my company phone would constitute company business, I believe. I've been with IA for just over a year now, and am very proud of the service we provide, and I and my staff honestly try to improve the lives of all of you we come into contact with. In all honesty and fairness, though, as a company we now number 130 sites across the nation, with more opening every month. Each site has a minimum of about 6 employees. That's almost 800 people, and just like any other group of people, we're going to get some bad apples. The key is to call our customer service line if you're treated rudely at any location, with a DETAILED report of your visit. Give us a name or a good description of the person(s) who were rude, the date, time and circumstances. Any site manager worth his/her salt will follow that up with a vengeance, I know I do. Not for nothing, treating my customers and potential customers in anything but a caring manner just brings the NCO back out of me. FYI, our customer service line is 1-877-738-7024. PLEASE call it to report good and bad experiences, so we can improve to serve you better. If you're ever in the Mt.Vernon, IL area, I invite you to come by the BEST IA site in the country, MINE. Donald

 

Hey, nice to see you on the site. Thats the joy of the internet. No matter what biz your in, your never going to please everyone. Some people just don't want to be pleased. Just like in the military, a happy trucker is a complaining trucker. I just find it kinda funny with all the ideas to take money from the working guy, this biz actually revolves around making a working guy as comfortable as possible. Its funny to see some of the complaints. Like I said long before in this thread, you guys have always been the most pleasant people to work with while on the road. Thanks.

 

I remember a few months ago there was a FAQ section on the IdleAire website that specifically stated that you are not required to use the IdleAire service, nor are you required to shut off your truck in order to park in their spaces.

I wish I'd have printed it out at the time, because I can't find it on their site now. However, I've never really had a problem parking in IdleAire spots. I never use it, because I have a Carrier APU on my truck, but I like the IdleAire spots, being easy to get in and out of. About half the time I get approached by the employees asking if I would like to use the service, and only once was I asked to move. There was a broken IA unit in the spot next to me, and the nice young lady asked if I would mind moving into that spot since I wasn't using the service, to keep the working one available for someone else. This I don't mind a bit. If I'm just parking in the IA spots, I'll look for the ones with the orange flags on them (indicating they're not working)

Maybe someday I'll use IdleAire, but I don't see it coming.

 

Thanks for the kind replys. We've used febreeze for the modules since we opened, but were having a problem with the moisture from it gunking up the inside of the tubes. What we've started doing at my site is folding a shop towel (real thick paper towel) in quarters, soaking it in febreeze, then letting that suck up against the air intake. That seems to keep the moisture out of the module while allowing the fragrance to circulate. We've tried the dryer sheets also, but found they just really didn't do as well, they're not strong enough.
If you'd like it in writing that you only have to move if there's somewhere else to park, ask that IdleAire rep for a copy of their "Rules of Engagement". These should be posted in the service center of every site, if not they should have them readily available. That's our own documentation which says not to knock on a truck who's curtains are closed, and to ask non-users to park elsewhere IF there's somewhere else to park, not otherwise.

 

i have an IA membership but i rarely use it for one reason--it is not really cost effective over idling when temps are hot because the units do not chill the sleeper very well if not at all.when i've used it in hot climates i still started the truck when the sleeper started getting warm.one time i had to keep starting the truck every 30 minutes cause it wasn't keeping the sleeper cool-this was on a hot DAY when i had to sleep after running all night.it is a good idea that fell short on performing as well as the designers had hoped it would and now that the cost is up to where it is now-well IMHO it's a flop that needs to go back to the drawing board,and it should cost LESS than $1.00 per hour to use.just my 2 cents to IA

 

I've heard a very few people say the same thing. Try putting a small fan in the center of the dash to blow the air back into the sleeper, and as Brickman said, aim the air flow towards the ceiling. The design of some cabs/sleepers makes it more like trying to cool 2 separate rooms rather than 1 room. Of course, another possiblity is that you kept getting modules which didn't blow as hard as they should. Did you call someone to come and take a look at it? If you'd been on my site, one of my guys (or myself) would've been more than happy to take a look, then move you into another spot if necessary, refund the service at the bad module, and probably have customer service turn on your extra TV channels for your trouble.
In order to make the service as comprehensive and accomodating as possible, we staff the sites 24 hours a day, provide up to 66 channels of satelite TV, phone, internet, electrical power, movies on demand and JJ Keller training in addition to the HVAC. Providing all that in addition to the infrastructure to support it costs quite a bit. Even still, one O/O I spoke to a few months back told me that after 2 months of use, he'd seen a 1.7 mpg increase since he started using IA. He was real happy with that. Obviously, if the service isn't performing adequately to cool your sleeper and you still have to run your truck, you won't see those savings. Come to Mt. Vernon, IL if you get a chance, and try us here (although I guess this wouldn't really apply till next summer), our AC WILL keep you cool if anywhere's will. In the meantime, I'd be happy to see you in the winter as well. Good luck.