To idle or not to idle..

my company threatens to deduct idleing time from your paycheck....yet they have you run around doing nothing wasting fuel....
If it's cold I will be warm....if it's hot I will be cool....and able to sleep, when it's ok outside to sleep with the truck off we do.....
I found a way to bypass their system and make it look like the truck is off while I idle.

 

jumper between posts 2 an 4

 

not that hard to follow,lostNfound. Most refrigerated loads are actually just temp-maintained inside of a reefer.If they are turned off for a few hours,the product temperature never changes.For instance I haul lots of poultry that is ice packed.At night I can turn the unit off 3-4 hrs at a time,the box temp during that time will not change enough to melt the ice.
I probably should mention(in case others try this) that you should not try this with Ice cream ormost produce(relies on air circulating to maintain freshness) or any exotic ,high dollar perishables.
As crowded as truckstops and rest areas are now I pledge to do my part to help my fellow drivers get much needed rest.So if I can cut the truck or reefer off -I WILL.
P.S. in over 30 years I have never had a claim/loss as a result of turning off a unit.

 

mustang=p-51

 

Whats even worse is when those guys have to do that regeneration crap.

You can park in the back 40, all by yourself, and have someone park right next to you. I used to think that perhaps theyre going to try to steal fuel, but now I realize that some people cant park straight without having another truck there to gauge from....

 

I was sitting at a truckstop in Wa. state with a frozen load that was set to continuous run. when I picked up that reefer, I thought it was awful loud. sounded like 30 vw beetles running at full throttle. I got there in the early morning, and since it was snowing, and I had tons of time till drop, I got some sleep. apparently, while I was sleeping, every truck parked around me had moved as far away as they could. I thought nothing of it, slept through it. After I woke up, I went into the restaurant for some lunch and bellied up to the bar. A few other drivers and I were BSing, and the loud reefer topic came up. I had no idea who's reefer they were talking about, until one driver said "yeah, it's that (unnamed company)truck on the back row!" I blew iced tea out of my nose when I realized it was mine! I apologized profusely and we all had a good laugh. They called me "vibrator" for the rest of the day.

 

For me, this issue is a catch-22.
We have two dogs, and until recently, no APU.
Before we got the APU, whenever we were in an anti-idling state, we ran the risk of getting a ticket w/HEFTY fine, if we kept the engine running to keep the dogs (and, oh, yeah,us humans!) from freezing to death in the winter, or suffocating to death in the summer heat.

If we DIDN'T run the engine, then we ran the risk of arrest for animal cruelty.

What REALLY gets my girdle twisted, though, is that nowhere in those anti-idling laws is there any consideration given the fact that these laws are HUMAN cruelty.

Judi Kay

 

Consider when a young child is traveling with the parent. No idle might be construed as endangering the child.

However, all of the idle laws consider one thing. The driver could and should have went to a motel.

Not right, but it is there.

 

Ok, but what about the hour after hour, sitting in a dock, getting loaded/unloaded, and not being able to idle?

Most places, (especially when picking up produce, which is a lot of what we haul), don't have a nice heated/air conditioned lounge for the drivers.
And of the ones who do, still....what of our pets, left in the truck?

Ticket for idling for the pets, or jail for animal cruelty.

Catch-22

Judi Kay