PAM Transport - Lowers Speed

Too many trucks idling 'all they want', bobtailing around town, and using bad routes is exactly why the speed is lowered. Just because you can does not mean you should. When you work for a large company its good to remember they are there to make a profit. I see way too many trucks idling in comfortable weather these days and then they whine when they get their trucks turned down.

If you owned the truck would you be idling it?

 

If the companies are serious about the cost of idling, they should be putting on the APU's. A driver should be allowed to be comfortable at all times. It includes the running of the truck to even watch tv. Alot of drivers are not smokers and should not be having to be exposed to watch tv in the truckstop. Alot of drivers carry food with them to avoid the high cost of the truckstop atrocious food. Not running the truck causes the food to spoil.

 

I partially agree here - APUs should be installed. In particular, I heard of one that's available only for Kwhoppers at the moment: it's entirely electrical. A series of gell-batteries is bolted to the bottom of the cab. Supposedly can run the A/C and all lights for 10 hours and still have juice to crank up up a cold motor.

Costs about as much as any other APU, but charges while the truck is on - and doesn't require additional fuel.

Now you know as much about it as I do.

As for the TV/Food thing.. here I call foul. A little careful shopping can come up with a more than adequate TV that you can run off an inverter for hours on end.

Throw in a thermo-electric cooler for the food, and your points are addressed. Even if you are parked for an extended time and feel your batteries might be getting low, a 1-hour idle every 10 hours or so should, I think, charge them up.

Of course, the cooler means your beer won't be ice-cold, and you should hit the grocery store every 3-4 days.. but by then, I'm running out of cooled food anyway. A fridge won't change that.

So, I agree with IROCUbabe on that: Idling in nice weather is BS.

On the other hand - I do have to wonder about routing. Shortest route is not always the most cost effective. Time and road topography should be considered as well. Is it really cheaper to - say, take HWY 60 through the Ozarks at 60mph (with stop lights, steep grades, speed zones, and slow 4-wheelers on 2-lane roads) than it is to go around on the interstates? I think it took about the same amount of time to go through rather than around. I've not compared the distances, though.

Seems to me a cost comparison on each route should be run. Wouldn't be hard, either. Send 10 trucks each way as part of your normal operations. The Qualcomm records the mpg and stuff anyway, so at the end of each trip, see what the actual cost was. Then set your routes accordingly.

When fuel was cheaper, distance differences mattered more than topology. Now, I think distance is too simplified a measure.

 

No doubt, but not every driver runs his truck to watch TV, or keep food cold. How many times is the guy in the truckstop, taking a shower, eating lunch, with the truck idling outside for an hour and a half? Or idling while fueling? Running a refrigerator for a half hour or so with the truck off WILL NOT kill the batteries.

Like IROCU Babe said, if more people would use common sense, there would be less of a problem, for everyone.

 

U know i agree a driver needs to be comfortable does that mean u need to idle all the time no. but yes at times u need to if you are not fortunate enough to have a apu...there are other alternatives like this weekend i am in troutdale or for weekend cant deliver til tomorrow. So I am hooked up to idleaire which has been nice cable tv and a/c all without idleing im keeping cooler and lights going by running jumper cables from refer to batteries...now not all times can i get into idleaire facility and times i hate stopping at truck stops..not safe area or not enough room for parking cause u may get ur frontend taken off. Last weekend i wasnt able to get into Idleaire running from coastal sc to chicago and iowa city...and being so hot around 100 and i cant sleep like that therefore then it becomes a Safety issue...point being no we dont need to idle at all times but there are some times we need to. For our comfort level and for the safety of the motoring public around us. I know some will disagree with me but thats fine. thats the norm is truck driving we cant agree with each on much. And if I did have my own truck again i would make sure it a Apu. that is the key to survival. Even if it burn 1 to 2 gallons over a 10-12 hour period still a huge savings in fuel cost.

 

The newer APUS don't use fuel at all, well not all of them. The truck I plan to buy later this year will have one no doubt. But you do have to remember the fuel increase was SUDDEN. It went from 2 something to like 5 dollars in the span of a year. That kind of increase is just nuts.

So now they have more COST, the freight isn't going up to match as quickly as it should, they are afraid to significantly increase prices as the freight is already low, and now they have to face thousands of dollars in modifications on their trucks to stop the bleeding, many of said trucks they plan to remove in the next year anyway. Look how many companies have failed this year.

 

Actually I sold my truck 3 years ago when Fuel was hitting 3.00 a gallon We knew then fuel was quickly rising and freight rates were not raising as fast they havent rose much in the past 10 years. Yes I know there are Apu's out there that dont use any fuel. My main concern with those is that they dont usually last long enough for myself. When i stop for the night i may be stopped for 10-13 hours depends on how i feel i run anywhere from 9-16 hours a day depending on the load. so i stop longer sometimes.