A/c in trucks

[VaBulldogs13U]

Hey guys a quick question is there a reg about having a/c in your truck...at work we were talking about it someone said if it was installed at the factory then it must work according to a reg.. I havent heard of that one. Before you guys ask the company I work for removed and disconected the a/c in all the trucks to "save on gas". That why I want to become an O/O to get away from these guys. It gets real humid in this part of Va

[ronjon619]

Before you guys ask the company I work for removed and disconected the a/c in all the trucks to "save on gas".

WOW :shock:

[mrpersons]

I don't know of any "requirement" to have a/c working in a truck,whether it was originally equipped with or not. Might approach it from the fact that it's part of the defroster system, which is a requirement, but that'd be pushin it.

Pretty stupid idea of pullin the a/c to gain an ounce of fuel milage, not to mention must have a yard full of happy drivers!

Maybe you should sudgest they pull the belts off that "power grabbin" alternater sittin under the hood too. Better yet, find the bosses car and rip out his a/c so's he and the wife can "enjoy" the benifit of extra fuel milage also.

I'm from Va also, what co. we talkin about? (so's I can stay far, far, away!)

[VaBulldogs13U]

I dont wanna say but Its a beer company on the southside(Chesapeake) in Va They distribute Miller,Coors,... And its not called tri cities....Also after your done delivering beer you have to mechandise the product which could take up to 3 hours

[Uturn2001]

No, there is no regualtions at either the FMCSA or at OSHA that says an employer must provide A/C for its employees.

[SARGE]

Uturn2001 is right they do not have to provide a/c. Now with that said I worked for a steel mill in east Texas and operated 988f cats that had a/c in them and was told by the safety dept. that if a/c did not work to report it to get it fixed.
Safety dept. said since the cats had them on when they were purchased that according to OSHA they had to work.
I do not know if this applies to trucking co. mabey it was because we were in a industriul enviroment.

[Windwalker]

No, there is no regualtions at either the FMCSA or at OSHA that says an employer must provide A/C for its employees.

But there is also no regulation that says anyone must work for dorks like that either. I'd be working some where else very soon.

[One]

Uturn2001 is right they do not have to provide a/c. Now with that said I worked for a steel mill in east Texas and operated 988f cats that had a/c in them and was told by the safety dept. that if a/c did not work to report it to get it fixed.
Safety dept. said since the cats had them on when they were purchased that according to OSHA they had to work.
I do not know if this applies to trucking co. mabey it was because we were in a industriul enviroment.

Keyword there is EAST TEXAS....If u run around town just about anywhere in the south in the summer without AC on an average summer day you can expect to suffer symptoms of heat-exhaustion or even a heat-stroke. Neither are conditions you should be driving a truck in.

All trucks made from 06 on are required to be delivered with a/c from factory.

[Uturn2001]

But there is also no regulation that says anyone must work for dorks like that either. I'd be working some where else very soon.

Oh so true.

All trucks made from 06 on are required to be delivered with a/c from factory.

I would love to see your source of information for that. I am curious.

Even so where does it say that the employer can not disconnect the A/C unit.

[Malaki86]

I don't know if there's a regulation or not on the a/c working in a truck or not, but I just finished orientation with Celadon. The safety director did say that if the truck was originally equipped with a/c, the a/c must work, because it's part of the defroster.

Like I said, I don't know if there's a federal regulation/law/rule on it, but for one of the top guys in a major carrier says it, it's probably because they got dinged on it at one time.

Just my 2c.

[One]

dont make me do the research- thats just what i heard...try ordering a new truck for road use without a/c and youll hear..."sorry all ur trucks come with a/c"

[marcel27208]

For those of you that said if the truck originally came with a/c then it has to work you are correct. i just read on another website(i wish i knew how to paste them on here) Also i dont know what type of truck original poster of forum is talking about but if it has a sleeper then it MUST have air conditioning also.

[Rev.Vassago]

For those of you that said if the truck originally came with a/c then it has to work you are correct. i just read on another website(i wish i knew how to paste them on here) Also i dont know what type of truck original poster of forum is talking about but if it has a sleeper then it MUST have air conditioning also.

Show me the FMCSA rule. Then I'll believe you.

[Uturn2001]

dont make me do the research- thats just what i heard...try ordering a new truck for road use without a/c and youll hear..."sorry all ur trucks come with a/c"

It may be that it is standard equipment for the truck just like having rear view mirrors or seats, which is the choice of the manufacturer, but I still doubt there is any law stating they must be so equipped.

This discussion has been done many times on other forums, including this one, and on a few occasions lawyers who deal with either the trucking industry and/or work place laws nd OSHA have chimed in stating that the "law" or "rule" of having to provide working A/C is nothing more that wishful thinking.

Now a working heater and defrosters are a different matter all together. :wink:

[MADLUX]

I dont wanna say but Its a beer company on the southside(Chesapeake) in Va They distribute Miller,Coors,... And its not called tri cities....Also after your done delivering beer you have to mechandise the product which could take up to 3 hours

It wouldn't be "price distribution" (i think thats it) wouldnt it ? Other than Hoffman Beverage (budwieser, owned by atlantic dominion, were I work ), and tri cities thats all I can think of

[Tony_Soprano]

there is no law prohibiting the company from disabling the a/c, or refusing to maintain it. I went through this with an LTL carrier where I worked for 15 years... Some nights you lucked out, some nights you had to suffer..( I didn't mind unassigned equipment, when you're making 70K) I think the only area this wasn't the case was in the southern supplements, where it was in the contract, they had to fix it, or send the tractor to a facility that could fix it..

[Fredog]

the fmcsa website says nothing about a/c. as you can see, the defroster does not have to be part of an a/c system, it just has to work. do the idiots you work for know that the truck was designed for naximum mileage taking the a/c into account? I bet they dont get a 1/4 mile to a gallon more. even if they did, they surely spend more than they save because they constantly have to train new drivers, I cant imagine anyone staying long, sounds like your company is run by the new breed of managers. all education and no common sense whatsoever. I would get out fast. they have already proven that they care nothing about you.

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Part 571: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards
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?571.103 Standard No. 103; Windshield defrosting and defogging systems.

S1. Scope. This standard specifies requirements for windshield defrosting and defogging systems.

S2. Application. This standard applies to passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses.

S3. Definitions. Road load means the power output required to move a given motor vehicle at curb weight plus 180 kilograms on level, clean, dry, smooth portland cement concrete pavement (or other surface with equivalent coefficient of surface friction) at a specified speed through still air at 20 degrees Celsius, and standard barometric pressure (101.3 kilopascals) and includes driveline friction, rolling friction, and air resistance.

S4. Requirements. (a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, each passenger car shall meet the requirements specified in S4.1, S4.2, and S4.3, and each multipurpose passenger vehicle, truck, and bus shall meet the requirements specified in S4.1.

(b) Each passenger car, multipurpose passenger vehicle, truck, and bus manufactured for sale in the noncontinental United States may, at the option of the manufacturer, have a windshield defogging system which operates either by applying heat to the windshield or by dehumidifying the air inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle, in lieu of meeting the requirements specified by paragraph (a) of this section.

S4.1 Each vehicle shall have a windshield defrosting and defogging system.

S4.2 Each passenger car windshield defrosting and defogging system shall meet the requirements of section 3 of SAE Recommended Practice J902, "Passenger Car Windshield Defrosting Systems," August 1964, when tested in accordance with S4.3, except that "the critical area" specified in paragraph 3.1 of SAE Recommended Practice J902 shall be that established as Area C in accordance with Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 104, "Windshield Wiping and Washing Systems," and "the entire windshield" specified in paragraph 3.3 of SAE Recommended Practice J902 shall be that established as Area A in accordance with ?571.104.

S4.3 Demonstration procedure. The passenger car windshield defrosting and defogging system shall be tested in accordance with the portions of paragraphs 4.1 through 4.4.7 of SAE Recommended Practice J902, August 1964, or SAE Recommended Practice J902a, March 1967, applicable to that system, except that?

(a) During the first 5 minutes of the test:

(a)(1) For a passenger car equipped with a heating system other than a heat exchanger type that uses the engine's coolant as a means to supply the heat to the heat exchanger, the warm-up procedure is that specified by the vehicle's manufacturer for cold weather starting, except that connection to a power or heat source external to the vehicle is not permitted.

(a)(2) For all other passenger cars, the warm?up procedure may be that recommended by the vehicle's manufacturer for cold weather starting.

(b) During the last 35 minutes of the test period (or the entire test period if the 5-minute warm-up procedure specified in paragraph (a) of this section is not used),

(b)(1) For a passenger car equipped with a heating system other than a heat exchanger type that uses the engine's coolant as a means to supply the heat to the heat exchanger, the procedure shall be that specified by the vehicle's manufacturer for cold weather starting, except that connection to a power or heat source external to the vehicle is not permitted.

(b)(2) For all other passenger cars, either?

(b)(2)(i) The engines speed shall not exceed 1,500 r.p.m. in neutral gear; or

(b)(2)(ii) The engine speed and load shall not exceed the speed and load at 40 kilometers per hour in the manufacturer's recommended gear with road load.

(c) A room air change of 90 times per hour is not required;

(d) The windshield wipers may be used during the test if they are operated without manual assist;

(e) One or two windows may be open a total of 25 millimeters;

(f) The defroster blower may be turned on at any time; and

(g) The wind velocity is at any level from 0 to 3 kilometers per hour.

(h) The test chamber temperature and the wind velocity shall be measured, after the engine has been started, at the forward most point of the vehicle or a point 914 millimters from the base of the windshield, whichever is farther forward, at a level halfway between the top and bottom of the windshield on the vehicle centerline.

[36 FR 22902, Dec. 2, 1971, as amended at 40 FR 12992, Mar. 24, 1975; 40 FR 32336, Aug. 1, 1975, 50 FR 48775, Nov. 27, 1985; 59 FR 11006, Mar. 9, 1994; 60 FR 13642, Mar. 14, 1995]

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[PackRatTDI]

From what I could tell, trucks use an automotive type AC compressor. It won't suffer nearly the same parasitic losses that a car or pickup might suffer from the compressor engaging. Hell, in my KW T2000 I couldn't tell the AC compressor was even on, except for the occasional engaging of the cooling fan, which probably robs more power than the AC compressor.

It's not like a motorcoach, which has a huge multi-cylinder ac compressor that has the displacement of a small car engine.

FWIW, when I drove for Pepsi locally, I drove a POS GMC TopKick with no AC on a 100+ mile drive one way across the desert. OK in the mornings but on the way home in the summer afternoons with 100+ temps. F--- that! I quit after being promised time after time that I'd get a more highway friendly truck with AC.

[marcel27208]

I asked DOT today...they said they do NOT address this issue of air conditioning........

[Useless]

I dont wanna say but Its a beer company on the southside(Chesapeake) in Va They distribute Miller,Coors,... And its not called tri cities....Also after your done delivering beer you have to mechandise the product which could take up to 3 hours

For many route vendors, the distance from one stop to another is so short that you would not be running long enough to cool the truck down, and I can see where a route company such as a beer or a soft drink distributor would not want trucks left to idle while accounts are being serviced.