Espar bunk heaters are fantastic, and will keep you warm to -30 or so.

When a guy is spending $40 a night to idle, $1300 or so is only a months worth of idling.

 

My view on idling is pretty simple. If you need to run the truck in order to get a good "nights" sleep then do so regardless of what the outside temp is or what the reason is you need to idle.

However when you get out of the truck for more than 2 or 3 minutes, shut it off.

If I owned a trucking company I would rather pay for the extra fuel due to idling so my drivers could sleep as well as possible than to pay for the repair costs, extra insurance costs, etc from having to recover a truck from the ditch or after any other kind of accident, and there is no cost to not wanting to have to call a driver's loved ones at home and tell them the next time they see that person will be in a casket.

Of course if I owned a trucking company, every last truck in the fleet that had a sleeper would have a well maintained, fully functional APU installed.

 

My company has Webasto bunk heaters in our trucks. They do a great job - when they work correctly.

I was assigned to this truck the 1st or 2nd week of January. After my 1st run (overnight) I brought it into the shop with a list of problems with the truck, one of them being the Webasto.

The heater has a thermostat on it. However, for the life of me, I have no clue where it's picking up the temperature. If the temp is above 50 or so, the thermostat works perfect. It cycles the heater on/off as needed to maintain the temperature. Below that and the heater runs non-stop. The temp control has no affect at all, except to work as an on/off switch.

Anyone that has used a diesel fired bunk heater knows how hot they get and how fast it gets there. So, for me to use the bunk heater on a cold night, I have to keep waking up to either turn it on or off. Ya - how much true rest am I getting like that?

Well, since my 1st write-up, this truck has been back into the shop now at least once a week. Every write-up has the Webasto problem. The shop foreman said that it needs a remote temperature sensor. He said it's a really easy fix and is cheap.

So, they said they ordered one - sometime in the end of jan/beginning of feb. Still nothing. I've talked to our parts guy. He's never been given the part number to order, the guys in the shop have given the parts guy the information on what he needs to order, blah blah blah.

Anyway, a couple week I had a run to Rockingham, NC. When I got there to park for the night, it was in the mid to upper 50s. I checked the Webasto and the thermostat was working correctly (cycling for the temp) and I shut down the truck. Well, after sleeping for awhile I woke up to the hottest I've ever been. I have no idea what the temp was, but I had to open every window in the truck and climb out to get cooled off. I was having trouble breathing on top of that. It was hot enough inside the cab that I pretty much couldn't touch anything inside the sleeper for over an hour.

That next morning I called in and spoke to one of our owners directly about the problem. I explained that I wasn't getting any sleep without idling, that the problem would be resolved if they ordered the temp sensor. He sounded very upset about it and said that he would walk to the shop and make sure the part was ordered that day and shipped overnight.

Guess what - still no temp sensor. No one has talked to anyone else about this part that I need. So, the way I see it, until they finally decide to order it, I'll idle if I have to. From that overheating, I'm not risking my life/health again. It's just not worth it.

 

Interesting comments. You guys did make some very good valid points.

 

65 is not terribly warm...However in the south I've found that even with the bunk windows open the truck being such a relatively small space not much larger than a closet in a house feels moist /wet inside due to high humidty . I also get better sleep while idiling due to the noise cancelation of the outside noises by the idiling engine as when I don't idle I get woke up by the sound of every truck passing every break setting especially if I have the windows and or bunk vents open , so I usually idle ...here in colorado 65-75 degrees is nice however even that can mean 90 degrees in cab temp mid day in the sun when trying to sleep ...And well most truck stops smell like urins ,so what driver wants to open his windows/vents to smell the aroma of a dirty pissy black top during the warm weather months ? And a window screen would allow entry into truck far easier/ un decteced by an intuder while you sleep than a closed window ...I don't idle all the time ,but I do about 45-50 % of the time according to my qual com which if i shut down with 15 % idle time and idle just for 8 -10 break I'm up to 40% by my current companies standards...They don't say anything , and when they do I won't argue I'll just pack my things and move on ...Idle time is 100% reduceable with a good high dollar APU that has heating capabilities and very good/large condensor that will do atleast if not better job at cooling than the ac system on the truck , and also keeps the batteriers charged while running power items ...if a company doesn't install these items they reall don't want ilde time eliminated . :wink:

 

I'm with Uturn,

If they are company drivers and the company doesn't want to spend the little extra to equip the truck with heat and a/c that doesn't require the truck to be running, tough luck on the companies part. Companies hollar about how much idling drivers are doing yet they will not equip the truck properly so that the drivers don't have to idle. No driver should be expected to keep their idle to a minimum for the companies sake and in turn either freeze their rear off or fry in the sleeper.

 

I was in El Paso last summer when my A/C decided to go out. The company wouldn't send me to a shop to get it repaired (blower motor died) and, well, let's just say it was unbearable.

They almost lost me as a driver over that one.

 

I guess YOU don't drive very much out WEST? I can't see ANYONE sleeping in a truck when the temp, is 125degrees inside the truck.. Lets TRY to start being HONEST.