What were you thinking idle air?

The only people that say trucks use a gallon per hour are the APU companies trying to sell you one. It has become the "known standard" even though untrue unless you idle at 1000 rpm all the time.

 

8 hrs and I topped off at 8 gallons = 1gph @ 800 rpm - 3406C. This was back when diesel was diesel, not this ULSD bio crap. So obviously it would take a immeasurable amount more of lower BTU fuel nowadays.

My new Ryobi RYi goes 8 hrs on 1 gallon gasoline running my a/c, fan and battery charger. 12 hrs without the a/c on.

I always thought Idleaire should just offer electric only at 50¢/hr. I'd plug in all day and they'd profit all day.

 

Thanks everyone for the great discussion! We can help provide some additional information.

Most drivers tell us that they burn about 1 gallon per hour idling. If your truck does less, that's great! The newer trucks should be more efficient, especially at low RPM. We also hear that drivers with the new trucks have all the DPF equipment, which is very expensive to repair/replace, and seems to be even more sensitive to idling. So we hear from customers that even if they're saving less on fuel, they're saving more wear and tear on increasingly expensive engines and DPF systems.

IdleAir offers ConvoyTV+Power, which is only $1.49/hr +tax. It includes unlimited 120V power, 60+ channels of DIRECTV, and even basic Internet.

For every hour of IdleAir used, customers earn 1 Convoy Point. Convoy Points is the IdleAir rewards program, and combining all the rewards, you can save up to 12% off any retail price.

 

That gallon an hr was pushed by apu companies and everyone quotes it as gospel. My Cat would do close to that at 1000 rpm with the fan running. My N14 used less and my Detroit uses .5gal and .75 gal with fan running. The only times I used Idleair was worth it to me was when fuel was $4.50+ and I was in Barstow in August with the Idle Nazis handing out tickets.

 

@Claytonr1973, we can all agree that it's very difficult to find solid facts about fuel consumption from idling. One of the few published statistics we've found is from Cummins Engines, which publishes a document called "Secrets of Better MPG". It's available on their website at: http://cumminsengines.com/uploads/docs/cummins_secrets_of_better_fuel_economy.pdf

Take a look at what Cummins says on Page 29: idling @ 500 rpm burns about 0.5 gal/hr, but idling at 1000 rpm burns about 1.0 gal/hr. Of course, it also depends on the size of the engine, but everyone agrees - idling is very costly.

 

last Time I was in Laredo i was ,waiting more then 3 hrs to find a place in the pilot for idle air,after 3 hrs I was driving to the Ta and was idling hold nite,te place behind the pilot in Laredo is to small,more trucks waiting then places

 

Worst part about idleaire charging the same or more as idling your truck was the 55 million in tax payer dollars they recieved and still couldn't make it.

 

@Gerardo1961, Yes, Laredo can get extremely busy, and it can be difficult to find an IdleAir space. Within the next couple of months, we'll build a new IdleAir location at the Laredo Flying J. That will almost double the number of IdleAir spaces available in Laredo.

If you think you might get to IdleAir for the night, give us a call before at 877-738-7024, and we'll do our best to hold a spot for you.