idle percentage

That sounds about right. Not sure where I heard 4 gal/hr for idle. Seems like APU's are a good answer to higher idle.

Like Moose said though, I think if the drivers that have a little more tenure, have a good safety record, are on time and generally aren't a PIA then they seem to kind of look the other way with the high idle time. They know that keeping a safe, productive and ontime driver is worth more to them than chasing a higher idle time. If I try to lower my idle time it is because I want to make my DM look good and keep him happy. But if I'm going to be uncomfortable, I'm idling.

 

The display on the truck can be set to show how much fuel it is using at any given moment.
When driving it shows miles per gallon, and when sitting it will show gallons per hour.

When first starting up it will use around 2.5 gallons per hour. Once it goes into the 'long idle' mode it should be using between .5 - .8 gallons per hour.
If the A/C is on it will probably be using around .7 - .8 gallons per hour.


I've really stopped worrying about getting it lower.
If the company does not like it they can either fire me, install an APU, or ignore it - whichever they might think will make them more money.

 

I don't worry about my idle percentage. A couple of weeks ago, I was at 4%. I have yet to idle overnight for A/C; my two 6" clip on fans and window screens do just fine. Just move some fresh air around, and I'm good.

I really have to wonder about those drivers who idle when it's a clear 60 degree night...

 

[/QUOTE] I really have to wonder about those drivers who idle when it's a clear 60 degree night...[/QUOTE]

Those driver's are probably a lot of the reason there are such restrictive idle rules that at times lack common sense but everyone are suppose to follow.

 

If you ever talk to people who are not truck drivers and they start talking about trucking one thing I have noticed is they all think the trucks have to idle all the time. Then they become truck drivers, doh.

 

I really have to wonder about those drivers who idle when it's a clear 60 degree night...[/QUOTE]

Those driver's are probably a lot of the reason there are such restrictive idle rules that at times lack common sense but everyone are suppose to follow.[/QUOTE]
Your time would be better spent outing stinky truckers than smoking trucks.

 

Hey , ah just so ya know . I dont foresee APUs going on our trucks anytime soon. Lol

Its gonna be a fuel burning night for this guy , its hot and humid for one and two I have some killer sun burn ..... I needs to be cool. Lol

 

When you offload a truck at 500k an APU is not really cost effective.
The bean counters at Swift are not stupid. They know how to calculate real costs over the average life of a truck that will only see ~500k or 5 years in service.
So, no, we won't be getting it.
I did the math a couple years ago, and I figured it would take at least 350k to recover only the initial cost of the APU. Add to that the maintenance costs and down time...

Still, it is their choice.
But other things matter more than idle time, like I've mentioned.
On-time percentage, safety score, fuel mileage...
Keep those things in the black and idle time might not be that important.

My fuel mileage has always been right where they want it - mid 7's (in a Volvo. My mileage was higher in the ProStar and Cascadia).
I have a better than 99% on-time ratio. And 3 out of those 5 service failures were not my fault. They know this fact, but I am still dogged with them.
My current safety score is 1. I don't know why it is so high right now, but the dispatcher in Columbus was all thumbs up with such a good score.
I've had it down to -13, but the good rolls off with time just like the bad. Still, I wonder what I did bad to get that point up from zero.


The point is, idle time is secondary to so many other things.

 

I forgot we can check for on time percent.
I am on slvr 100% . Now I know I have been late a few time , but it was due to a accident where I was sitting for a while then a few time picked a trailer up that was junk from the time I backed under it. Lol

Where does it show our safety score moose ?