Flow Below Added

From what I experienced APU's can suck some fuel and most people don't count that against their mpg. But I ran mine almost the entire time whenever the truck was parked and with freight being so lousy I was really inefficient from load to load. There might be 18 or 20 hours at times between loads. Sometimes I got lucky and it was closer to 10. Sometimes it was worse. I quit keeping close tabs on it after a few weeks but when I did check it the APU sometimes consumed nearly .5 gph. Similar to a reefer fuel consumption it varies depending on loads and ambient temps. It adds up and definitely has an effect on mpg.

But imo the true value of an APU is in preserving the longevity and preventing any downtime due to emissions problems caused by excessive idling. The truck I was in was a 2019 with 545,000 miles on it. I never saw it do a full on regen in the 55,000 miles I put on it. I did see that dpf light flash on briefly for a couple of seconds 2 times, that's it. The soot level gauge stayed very low. The engine seemed like brand new and as far as I know had never shown or had any emissions related faults or failures in 500,000+ miles. That is the true value of an APU and why the cost is worth it because of the downtime I'm certain it prevents.

 

DPF was changed @ 465K Didn't need to but had to for the 625Kwarranty. Never had to change one before it was traded in.

 

What do you drive now?

 

Haven't started driving yet but it'll be a '23 or '24 Cascadia with an APU basically setup exactly like the blue CST truck I was driving, same engine, trans and APU. Except the blue truck was a fast truck and the new company has slow trucks. But I'm not running a rat race or otr anymore so I don't really gaf.

 

Good luck!

 

But you can't keep the engine warm when it's cold.

 

Cycle the key a few times, letting the heating element light go out each time letting the intake heater warm the intake air, and a Volvo will easily start at 0°F. I’ve done it numerous times. It’s one of the great things about a Volvo many don’t know. I didn’t idle this PACCAR at all last winter. But, I cringed everytime I turned the key, hoping it’d start. I just don’t trust it like I did the D13 with the intake heater.

 

St

Still a cold start, can't be compared to a start after a diesel APU has worked all night long.