"Banking" idle time: A savings account for future needs!

Interesting concept.

 

It sure as heck should be possible -- or more to the point, companies should apply some common-sense discretion when they're trying to figure out whether to chew a driver out for an isolated period of high idle time.

But in my experience, they don't. Now whether they'd actually fire an otherwise perfect driver just for having a couple months of high idle, I can't say. Probably not, under normal economic circumstances -- but either way, they sure aren't shy about verbally beating drivers down over any little thing, irrespective of the driver's record.

Then again, maybe I'm not contentious enough. It's entirely possible that office types dial up the aggression to 11 at the onset of every encounter because they're used to drivers who are equally aggressive at every turn. But if you're earnest and (for the most part) mild-mannered, your basic trip to the terminal sure can seem like a vacation in the Twilight Zone.

 

The credits would be no good in Kalifornia.

 

That makes way to much sense.

 

Nope. The reason being that implementing such a scheme would require both common sense and agreement between truckers/trucking companies and regulatory agencies. And most of us who've been here even a short time understand that both sense and agreement are in very short supply in this industry.

 

There's only one way to reduce idle time AND keep drivers comfortable. it's called an APU. Marten has then on all trucks and it's no problem to keep your idle time below 4%. 115 deg or -30 you stay at the right temp inside the cab and never run that engine.

 

When I used to run for schneider they only complained once about my idle time and it was in the summer, all I said was hey its like a 100 degrees out here and im hot. All they said was ok well try to keep it down. When I had a truck with an apu in it, never idled the thing except for when I was getting ready to start the day and warming the truck up a little. The apu I had also kept the engine warm and didnt have to run the truck even when it was 30 below because it would run coolant through the block and was pulling fuel off the tanks with a return that also heated the fuel a little. Those apus are money savers on the engine and fuel but they do cost a lot up front, thus the reason the large carriers dont have them yet. Would've been nice to be able to bank idle time but the carriers dont think that way, they dont want to idle and dont want to fork over the money for the apus.