What is your idle percentage at swift

Okay, be honest. What is your idle percentage and how much do you get away with before actually being chastised by a human being, i.e. your DM?

I'm currently at 60% avg for two weeks. I can't help it...it's hot!! I got the Qualcomm message from HQ saying my DCI is too high. My actual DM hasn't said anything to me yet, but did say at our introductory meeting that at 35% or higher, we would be hearing from him.

I'm not looking for a flame Swift or idling policy flame. Looking for honest numbers and factual experiences.

 

Well, my opti-idle is broke so I'm not surprised by 60%. If they'd fix the opti-idle, I would be more than happy to try harder to lower it but the heat is killer, even at night up here in the north. It's staying about 80* even at night in Conneticut. That translates to 85 or so in the truck. Sorry, but that's too hot not to have A/C and I'm not getting up every hour to shut it off.

As for the clutch and gear thing mentioned, I have to disagree. Your idle time is calculated based on a miles-moved:engine-running ratio. For example, say you pick up a load and since it's near the end of your day, you shut down at the Pilot just down the freeway. If you have only moved 8 miles and have 6 hours of engine time, your DCI will be high when you wake up. Probably 99.99%. Your engine continues to run, but as you move down the road, your milage number increases. Thus, the ratio shifts to the milage side. It's not a linear ratio. In fact, it's weighted against you. Think of it like two kids on a teeter-totter, only, the kid on the side opposite of you is the engine run time and he's much heavier than you.

P.S. I just tried the clutch/gear "trick" mentioned and even released the parking brakes. DCI still increased.

 

I just finished skimming the FMCSA rulebook. No such chapter existed, so either he made it up or you are remembering incorrectly. Hoping you got the numbers mixed up, I did a bit more researching and I was unable to find any rule that might support a pro-idling argument. Not even remotely. Oh well...