Why do people needlessly idle ?

Hear this all the time and I would say yes my truck shuts off and yes it's just as easy to override it so it doesn't yes my truck burns weeds and I hold the steering wheel often times with a 80 to 130 ft loàd behind me or a load weighing 65000 I should think with the loads I haul and places I go I don't need to justify myself to anyone and big pipe truck stop truckers who idle next to me when I'm trying to sleep annoys me.

 

Holy mother thread of idling!
None of this would be an issue if DOT didn't exist and if we all snorted coke.

 

An over active air dryer can be annoying. If there is available parking, I will move to another spot.

 

Why don't you just fix your air dryer.

 

While it's running somewhere, so does the coolant. For years CAT ran a two sided dipstick. One side marked eng off cold oil. The other eng idling warm oil

 

I can idle all I want I don't understand why just because you can you do does it ever even occur to drivers that we live on this planet and have to breath the air and we are not talking about needing to idle 10 degrees or over 75 we are talking about needlessly idling. If your not smart enough to invest in a heating and cooling unit so your not using a 500 HP diesel engine to cool or heat the sleeper then perhaps you should get out of trucking and leave it to the next generation.

 

Having nothing to do with smarts, jack hole, some folks don't stay in the truck enough to justify spending, or quite frankly see the need, 8-10k on an APU, or in some cases 3-4k on the external generator set up. I don't live in my truck. I spend a portion of my week there, but then its off to the barn. But wadda I know. Carry on.

 

So below 10 or above 75 it's OK? Your numbers are subjective and your needs differ from others.

 

I consider 45 degrees to be a little chilly. So I would idle the truck when I'm in it. What I don't understand is these drivers that idle their trucks when it's 60 to 70 degrees.

 

But who's to say what is "needless"?

APU's have not been proven to be worth the extra capital and maintenance costs by many analysts in the industry. At this point it's really more of a personal decision or recruiting/retention tool.

Several people have given very good reasons to idle. Calling them "not smart" for not wanting to spend extra money on an APU isn't encouraging to a healthy discussion.