Why must you idle?

Yep, they work great. Put them in right. Roll your window up tight and they are as secure as the glass.

 

I idle the truck to provide power for my CPAP machine.. it for the treatment of sleep apnea.

Depending on the exact machine you use, the pressure its set at, and whether or not you need humidification the aperage draw of some CPAP machines is more than the batteries of a Class 8 truck can provide for a 8 hour period.

The other issue is that running a CPAP off draining batteries can mess up the pressure the CPAP machine provides. A CPAP is nothing more than a fancy medical compressor. As the battery voltage drops the blower motor does not spin as fast. You can get apneas.. while using a CPAP.

Last... using a CPAP in an unheated cab below about 50 degrees is dangerous. The cold air blown down your lungs causes hypothermia. You "freeze to death" from the inside out.. you body can not handle the chilling effect of the cold air blown down into your lungs and body core.

SO.. I idle...

NOW. the ADA does requre accomodations for disabilities.. sleep apnea is a disability.. but many of the anti-idling laws do not have an exemption for medical.. and at least CARB will not grant an exemption for CPAP users.. Their answer is get your company to install an APU..

SO... FMCSA is requiring more and more drivers to get tested and treated for sleep apnea..but the air quality folks wont let us idle to run the machines..

Catch-22

(just a truck driver with sleep apnea)

 

Last night when I stopped for the night, It was hot. Things changed as the sun set, I went to sleep running my Air Cond. Woke up at 2:00 AM. COLD. My Air was still running. You would be happy Redd. I shut my truck off.... LOL

 

All people are not the same. Some people need the a/c even if it's 70 outside and some don't, everybody wants to feel comfortable man.

 

10-4. I sleep during the day now running night line-haul, it's hard enough to sleep during the day anyway so I adjust my A/C and heat to be comfortable. I'll let it get pretty cold in here during the winter but can't sleep if I'm even a little warm. I sleep on my couch during the summer because it gets to warm upstairs during the day no matter how cold I set the A/C because of the way the windows face - can't get a breeze just a bunch of sun.

 

I did not know that about the cold air and CPAP! Wow! That probably explains alot of the discomfort I get in the winter months b/c I sleep better in the cold so I rarely idle. I may have to reconsider that pratice.
On a sidenote, have you, truckerdad57, or anyone else pursued the disability angle and won? Either had your company install an APU or recieved an exemption to idle? Maybe I need to make a few calls?

 

There is no risk of hypothermia at 50 degrees or below when using a CPAP over and above breathing the same air temp without one.

I too use a CPAP machine.

The CPAP does NOT force air down your throat.

 

I just love sleeping in the cold. Many mornings when I wake up the dog's water is frozen solid. The only problem is that if it's too cold the truck won't start. If that's the case my better half who sleeps in the lower bunk gets up a couple of times in the night and starts the truck up. If it's colder than -20c we leave it running. I have a lot more problems when it's hot out. I just can't sleep in the heat so we run the truck until I fall asleep and then my Pookey shuts it down. I'd do all this getting up and down and turning the truck on and off you know but I'm way up there in the second story in the darkand you know it just might not even be safe climbing up and down. Besides she can easily do it when she's leting the dogs in and out for a pee.

 

Same here! My job with Crete lasted a whole 6 weeks cause of that doggone opti-idle. 8 or 9 times a night I"d wake up with my heart pounding cause it felt like someone hit my truck. 6 weeks on NO sleep...

 

I once went off on a dispatcher over the qualcomm for this very reason! He said: "Air conditioning is OPTIONAL! You never go to a shop for A/C again without getting the o.k."... I pulled off and sent: "Um, in Tacoma maybe, but it's 110 in here going 70. At 0mph it's at LEAST 120.. That's as high as my thermometer goes. I just emailed you a picture of it. People DIE like that, and if the Geneva conventions outlaws this treatment for POW's.. How do you think SAFETY will react? Should we find out?"