A Call to Arms

That is true but i think his whine oops excuse me his argument is that the icon does not work properly which has nothing to do with the safe operation of the truck. If his argument is since the icon dont work right i cant sleep good so therefore it is a safety issue then i dont think the outcome for him is going to be good. It is not d.o.t. policy that the icon work properly because it is not in operation while the truck is. Like you say more and more states are going to No idle anyhow. I mean seriously a "CALL TO ARMS" gimme a break!!! Would i be upset if i had icon and it wasn't working right? yeah i would but a call to arms good greif whats next i'm used to sleeping with some kinda noise so if the radio dont work then we should bombard the dot with letters and speak to the ceo of the company because i cant go to sleep w/o it so it is a safety issue.

 

The problem with the no idling laws and policies from companies is that the driver is not getting a safe, and proper sleep.

Most people cannot sleep soundly with the windows open which invite trouble. They also cannot sleep well without the temperature being kept in a stable range.

I personally cannot sleep in a vehicle when it is 95 degrees out without a/c.

 

I agree with you completely i would not want to try and function under those circumstances either but a "call to arms" seriously. I am all for anything that will contribute to the safe operation of any vehicle as i have a wife and kids on the road daily but there is ways of going about it. Also he didn't seem to mind until he thought that was the reason the trucks were being turned down. I had already said that all trucks were being turned down regardless.

 

I drove for USA for a couple years in the late 90's and yes they do or at least they did have a mindset that if one person is doing something wrong then they punish everybody. For example a couple guys were useing the voltage off the instrument panel dimmer switch to override the setpoints for the speed. USA then took everybody's dimmer switch off the trucks. A few months later they put them back on because of legal issues. (so I was told.) There were other things they did but thats just the one that comes to mind. They had a guy named Tony that was in charge of orientation who had never driven a truck before telling everybody the wrong way to add up the 70 hours. Can't remember excactly what he was telling everybody but I just remember that all the experienced drivers were dumbfounded, and the newbies looked completely confused as I'm sure they were taught completely different in school. One of thier safety guys had no clue as to how jake brakes work and had no concept of what is going on between the shoes and drums during overheated brakes. The checks are good and that's about the only thing good I could say about USA. I had a truck for 5 years (not usa) and it didn't have A/C. I drove it all over the lower 48 states and you get used to it after awhile. The only thing that is hard to deal with is the mosiqtoes. I do recall getting questioned about it during a DOT inspection in Oregon. The officer asked me to turn on my heater and A/C and I told him that I didn't have A/C. He said that because there was a switch in the cab for A/C that the truck is required to have a working A/C. I told him that I didn't have a compressor, condensor, or any of the other componants so he let me go because I think he knew there was no simple fix to the problem. I don't know what the actual laws are, but I will say that USA is pretty crappy to work for at times, but I think the company is pretty stable and in todays economy it might be worth it to bite the bullet on this issue and stay with USA for a couple more years.

 

What is the issue they are having with ICON?
I have had it in trucks before, and the only time it ever broke was when the thermostat in the sleeper went bad. It was a pain to fix, but was fixed.
When ICON is on, and is set on Climate mode, it still counts as idle time, and is supposed too.
You need to set the temp a little warmer than you want (in warm weather) or slightly cooler in cold weather. This will lower idle time allot.
Also closing all curtains, putting front fan on low, and sleeper fan on Med or high will help.
I kept my idle under 28% for 2 years using these methods. I do not know what number USA is looking for though. I had an under bunk heater as well, and my winter idle was under 2%.

 

If you have a truck with icon they are looking for 25% or less. The most common problem that i know of is even with the icon set and even when it reaches the set temp. it will not shut the truck off. I remember when mine went bad i had the temp set at 70 and when i got up the truck had run all night and it was showing 58

 

This is true about all trucks being turned down to 60 on the peadl and 63 on cruise. However, if you are a student driver or if you have high idle time your truck will be turned down to 58 on the pedal and 60 on cruise. This was told to me by the shop foreman at Roanoke a few weeks ago when my truck was being serviced.

 

I knew it was lower than normal i just didn't know it went down to 58. I'm glad I don't have that problem.lol

 

Call to arms??? , just move on like I did, get your 1 yr and find something better for you... calling to arms is going to get you calling unemployment if the Razorback room notice you and don't find it funny... might even smear up your DAC if you sic the DOT on them for that, thus making it way harder to better your work place... pick your battles wisely fellow driver.