Is it time to say goodbye Swift and move on?

I certainly hope not!

 

maybe blue should fine a company with apu's installed. #### i won't sweat or freeze my ### off for no one and risk going down the freeway zoning out from not enough sleep.

 

I know some of you will never admit it, but it is possible to keep idle time down. I have received a few messages over the QC about high idle, but I more often get the thank you messages for keeping it down. Plain fact is, all that idling eats into profits, which hurts every one of us.

Just had a thought- I wonder if that's part of the reason some drivers are getting raises and others aren't? Hmmmmm.....

Anyway, close the curtains, pop the vents open, turn on the fan, and get naked. I can almost always sleep comfortably that way. The rare occasions when I can't aren't going to raise my average idle enough to cause them to hassle me.

Go ahead, now, attack me with all your big talk about how no company will ever stop you from idling and you'll go complain to safety if they try cause you're a big man who needs your beauty sleep and you can't sleep at all unless conditions are perfect.

 

No attack coming from me. I saw both sides. People inside a terminal waiting on a load over a weekend and their truck idling in the bobtail section of the parking lot so the truck would "stay cool." That is wasteful and stupid. However, drivers like myself who have sleep apnea and cannot get proper rest without the aid of a c-pap machine either have to have a truck that opti-idols, have an apu or idle the truck. Batteries go dead pretty quick with an inverter running a c-pap.

I just remember the frustration of TRYING to make company idle percentage and the planners letting me sit for 2 and 3 days at a time with no load. Don't want me to idle? Keep my ##### running.

 

The first truck I had with Swift was setup so that idling to charge the battery did not count toward my idle percentage. My idle went up when they retired that puppy. Probably about half my idling is to keep the battery charged and not for temperature at all.

 

" Plain fact is, all that idling eats into profits, which hurts every one of us." When they are paying you .25 cpm they are making enough money for you to have a good sleep and not die from the heat.

 

Actually, they are paying me 38 cpm.

 

I know most of you don't think I have much to offer the company driver regarding idle reduction. But i'm going to weigh in on it anyway.

My last OTR load came out of San Diego. While I was parked on one side of the street, perfectly comfortable in my copper colored truck with no upper vents to exhaust heat from, there was a white Volvo on the other side idling away. It made no sense to me. There was a nice breeze and it was only 70*F out. The company guy had his truck canned up, with no windows or vents open. No wonder he was hot. Add to that the 15* rise in temperature around his truck...caused by his idling engine. All he had to do was shut it down and let the motor cool off. He would not have been melting inside that truck.

I ran in a company Volvo. I also ran in a company Columbia. I was in the Columbia during the summer. This is relevant because I can demonstrate that I know about the heat radiating off the floor when you first park. But that only lasts for about 45 minutes. I was comfortable in that Columbia in the Lancaster yard in August, at 14:00 on a sunny day. About the only time I needed to idle (opt-idle) that truck was in the Southeast. Louisiana, Memphis area, Mississippi, Alabama, Southern inland Virginia....you get the picture. My idle time stayed around 10% to a high of 18% during the muggiest times. Now, my idle runs at about 25%. Only because I refuse to can my dog up in a hot truck. I'll do it myself, but I will not watch him pant. If the dog was not on the truck, my idle time would be on par with what I was doing as a company driver.

I had an APU on my Prime truck. I cannot justify the expense of putting one on this truck with the low percentage of times I need to idle. I only idle about 10 hours per week. That's ten gallons of diesel. Roughly $45. If I put an APU on this, I will spend roughly $70/week for the payment, plus maintenance and diesel burned by the APU. It's just not worth it to me.

If you are stuck in the SouthEast, talk to your DM about getting you out of there so you can bring your numbers down. Open a window. Acclimate your body to deal with temperatures between 50 and 80. Your body will learn. Quite honestly, I'm disgusted with people who think they can rest only if the temp is around 65*. The only exception to this is RoadToad, who has a central nervous system disorder that interferes with her natural thermostat and prevents her body from regulating its own heat.

My second summer out was spent in a black 1999 International Eagle with no A/C at all. I lived through it and slept very well. If an old bag like me can do it, plese don't tell me you're being outclassed by an arthritic old has-been.

 

Someone that idles regularly, an APU pays for itself in 12 months. Someone like you Injun (part Indian ) that is acclamated to heat can still benefit from an APU even if you don't idle much. Companies take them off the trucks they sell and put them on the next truck. So they still pay for themselves, it just takes longer. Swift says they don't pay for themselves which is a crock. They are comparing to the situation where they require low idling hours. Of course if you look at it that way, then it won't.

APU's filter the outside air. You live in a cancer causing diesel fume environment. So you can see the plus is there.

APU's AC removes moisture from the air. Humidity is hard on anything materialistic including a human body. It also helps preserve the interior and your personal belongings. Sure you can remain comfortable on desert nights. Most freight are in the humid states.

APU's provide a steady source of power, opening another world of comfort to the driver.

APU's keep the engine block warm in winter preventing damaging cold weather starts.

APU's keep the windows up and the bugs out.

Idling cost about $36 a day. The final numbers on cost of an APU and todays fuel cost boils down to ~$4.15 a day over it's life. That's based on 15,000 hours which is generous. Versus what a truck generates in revenue, that's peanuts. Companies are not going broke with an APU. They might have to buy a Lexus versus a Mercedes. But they are not going broke.

Many states have tax incentives with the purchase of an APU.

Companies are constantly trying to figure ways to cut cost so they can undercut the next guys bid on freight. It's got to the point everyone is knitpicking penny pinching and most of it is coming out of the drivers arse.

This isn't a camping trip. We are talking about drivers everyday lives and the ability to be comfortable versus being able to tolerate the temperatures. The company sits in an AC environment. Turn your AC off and I will turn mine off. Their level of reasoning is not fair.

When there are large amount of companies that have APU's and do care about driver comfort, why work for one that doesn't? The decision to have no idle, no APU is nothing but a business decision to fatten the stock holders profits. The very same people living in rich AC controlled homes.

Your statement "If an old bag like me can do it" says it all. Sure anybody can do it, but why would you want to? You're going to say so you can make more money. We all want more money. Why do we want more money? So we can live more comfortable. Having AC is being more comfortable. So you see it's one big circle, lol.

 

Seldom does an APU pay for itself.

The math has been done a few times on here..........

I'll see if I can find it.......