Idle Conversation
DOT workshop participants consider ways to eliminate truckstop idling and save 800 million gallons of fuel.
Tom Berg
Equipment Editor
What will it take to get drivers to shut down their engines during lunch breaks and overnighters? What will entice fleet executives to buy equipment that will keep cabs and sleepers at a comfortable temperature so idling won't be necessary?
These were some of the questions tackled at a government-organized Idle Reduction Workshop held recently in Cincinnati. Participants, including drivers, supplier representatives, fleet managers and truck writers, brainstormed a host of suggestions that could turn into answers. Among them were lower prices for heating and cooling equipment, tax incentives and rebates, driver rewards and sensible anti-idling regulations.
Staffers with the federal Department of Energy sponsored the meeting, as well as an earlier one in Philadelphia. They took many ideas to heart and said they are working on getting them into practice. DOE people want to form an official working group with heavy representation from the trucking industry. But Fred Wagner, one of the staffers, emphasized the industry must lobby Congress and DOE higher-ups, or accomplishing anything will be impossible.
Meanwhile, three field tests of idle reduction equipment are about to kick off, DOE folks said. The tests will involve 125 fleet trucks with drivers who will use heating and cooling devices in regular revenue service. The object is to see how well and reliably the systems work, what they cost and what their resale value will be (see accompanying article).
Idling heavy duty truck engines burn more than 800 million gallons of fuel a year and pollute the air, DOE has maintained. Idling also endangers driver health because they breathe exhaust fumes that swirl around and settle among parked rigs at truckstops and rest areas.
Engine power is needed to cool sleepers in summer and, to a lesser degree, heat them in winter. But engine idling is practiced because drivers are in the habit of doing it, and they think it's neat, participants agreed. Drivers need to understand that idling is unwise and costs money, and an education campaign was among the suggestions made at the meeting. DOE might formulate such a program. Fleets should also reward drivers for cutting back on idling.
Some fleets use automatic shutdowns that can be set with a modern engine's electronic controls. Temperature-activated restarts temporarily run engines to maintain desirable heat or cooling levels. But any driver who's been awakened from a deep sleep by the sudden cranking of the engine and the associated warning buzzes will testify this is not a good option.
Idle reduction equipment now available includes fuel-fired bunk heaters, "phase-change" coolers (which chill chemicals with truck air conditioning, then dispense cooled air with the engine off), diesel-powered auxiliary power units, battery inverters and shorepower systems. Fuel cells are being developed, but they are years away from commercial use.
Current idle reduction equipment costs from $1,500 to more than $6,000 per truck. As a result, they are found on only a minority of trucks. Thus in any but decent weather, drivers cannot stay comfortable and get real rest without idling the truck's main engine.
Gail Swiger, a professional driver, said the problem will intensify with the new hours of service regulations, which will require drivers to lay over for longer periods. Swiger, with husband Mike, led efforts to write performance standards for sleeper heating/cooling devices within the Technology & Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Assns. DOE should look at the new TMC standards as part of its anti-idling efforts, she said.
Auxiliary heating and cooling devices could become popular if truck owners realize operating benefits and get a return on the investment needed to buy them, participants agreed. The devices save a lot of fuel but require varying amounts of maintenance, and some add considerable tare weight. Determining exact cost-and-benefit numbers is one of the goals of the upcoming field tests.
Added to the cost of buying new devices is the 12% federal excise tax, and sometimes state sales taxes. Exempting the devices from those taxes would help. Even better would be government funding or rebates to help buy them, or tax credits, participants said. The Canadian government now subsidizes the buying of anti-idling equipment, and so should the U.S. government, most said.
Some participants believe the government should also encourage the "wiring" of truck and rest stops and other public truck-parking areas so that drivers can plug in and use shorepower systems, if they have them. So should shippers and receivers, especially those who make truckers wait for long periods.
But industry standards must first be written so every place provides the same type of power - 30 amps at 110 or 220 volts, for example. Standards would also ensure safe wiring of truck sleepers. Wiring standards now used for motor homes and travel trailers are not adequate for commercial trucks, said suppliers and fleet managers.
On-board power sources, not shorepower, are the answer, argued one participant, who manufactures an auxiliary power unit. He said airlines learned long ago that APUs are the most efficient way to power parked airplanes; the companies tried ground-based diesel generators and plug-ins, but those were more trouble than they were worth.
Other participants noted that wiring any facility - or plumbing it with hoses to supply heated and cooled air, as is now being done with government help by one supplier - costs thousands of dollars per parking spot. Some equipment takes up valuable space, and it greatly complicates everyday use of the place: Who's going to tell tired drivers without the hook-up equipment to stay out of the special parking spots, and get them to move once they're in?
The cost of installing any on-board equipment is less if it's done at truck factories, and perhaps integrated with existing truck heating and cooling systems, participants said. But installation must consider ease of servicing, as well as possible removal of the equipment when a sleeper-cab tractor is converted into a daycab for local or regional use.
Because idling the big diesel is a powerful part of trucking culture, federal regulations will be needed to prohibit the practice, most participants agreed. But such regs must be "timely, uniform and sensible" instead of the mishmash of state and local ordinances now on the books at various locales.
DOE staffers complained about not being able to get cost and operating data, but were told that numbers are available for the asking from the Technology & Maintenance Council. Meanwhile, the DOE staffers have followed up on the meeting by e-mailing a detailed summary to participants, and urging them to carry the anti-idling message to colleagues and readers.
That's one reason for this article.
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Fleet Demo to Gauge Costs of Idle Reduction Equipment
