Swifts new Idle policy

ive got a 2009 volvo, same thing, no opti-idle but got the wabasso heater (or whatever its called). I've been in the south for the past 3-4 days, and right now, i'm sitting in Tyler,TX....i wake up at 7a, and it is already in the high 80s with high humidity. I tried sleeping with screens in my windows and my vents open and my fans on, but that lasted about a half hour, and i went back to idling my truck. i guarentee my idle is over 75%. Last few loads i've had have been 300-500 mi. and i know i idle 10+ hrs a day lately.

I came up with an idea and offered it to them as a suggestion. They want to keep idle low to save money on the fuel, however they dont want to pay for IdleAire or hotel rooms. SO, my suggestion is give every driver 4-5 gallons of fuel allotment per day for idle, regardless where that idle is. Then anything over that, comes out of the drivers pocket. Either way, if they paid for hotel or IdleAire, its coming out of their pocket anyway, so it really dont matter. Figure if drivers really felt the pressure of keeping idle down, and the end result was it came out of their pocket, drivers might actually look at turning the truck off when coupling or uncoupling to trailers when they could, or turn the truck off while sittting in line at a shipper or something.

Granted when the temp is 100 degrees out, it is kinda hard to idle the truck. But i for one wont put up with trying to get good rest in a hot truck, just relying on fans to keep me cool, just to not idle the truck.

I know there is more to it than just the cost of fuel....there is the wear and tear on the engine, which is high dollar. But i would suggest, that drivers are reimbursed for IdleAir/Hotels or put APUs on the trucks.

 

The company's that are making this policy are doing it from a financial standpoint. The drivers comfort or lack their of seems to be of little concern.

Whether the driver can handle the heat or not is up to them. If they can't they will get someone else to fill the seat. And the policy will continue at many company's till they can't fill the seats with drivers willing to swelter in the heat.

These days a important question drivers should be asking a perspective company is what they have done to insure the environment in the truck is livable. If they have not done what is necessary then you should work elsewhere.

 

if you drive a volvo just pull the 13 fuse under the dash.always say you have less fuel than you actually do. Idle all you want.Just don't do it on the yard.

 

You can pay for your fuel. Swift is in dire need of driver having ideas like yours. The rest of us will idle as we need. APU's are on there way.

 

all you gotta do, is when the "[_i_]" light illuminates, and 'idle shutdown' appears on the display, just push the clutch in, and it will cancel. then it will run as long as you want.

I've idled on the yard for 6-8 hrs...till they found me a load. sorry....dont care were i am, if i need to get some rest to be a safe driver on the road, i'm going to idle the truck. want to fill it with someone who will sweat their #$% off in 100 degree weather....be my guest.

 

ALL I can say to that is .......



WTF?

 

I found something interesting on this sight that might help. one of the sponsers here on the main forum page, Global Trucker, it shows a portable air conditioner, it sits in the top of an ice chest or cooler and says it will put out 50 degree air, full of crushed ice it will last for over 6 hours, more for block ice. there is also one of those portable power units that you charge then can use to start dead batteries, it wil run the portable air for 27 hours, recharge the power unit on cig lighter or ac current. Anyway i seen that and thought i would post this so you all could see, its a option to those whos company wont let idle, hope this helps.

 

You can also find all kinds of 12 volt items there that might be real usefull for some of you out there.

 

Peanut butter,

I grew up with mechanic friendly dad that taught me what to do on boats. Buy a portable fan and run it while you sleep. Hook it up or buy rechargeable batteries. Best solution until you can find a better one.

I would like to find about that a/c unit peanut butter mentioned.

KH

 

King Hunter on the main forum page, left side where sponsors are it says trucker gifts and more, then global trucker store when it first opens there is a list of 12 volt stuff click on air conditioners, it looks pretty cool,hope it works as it says.