Where do I start? We HAD this discussion a year ago!

The MAIN reason I/A is failing is stubbornness on the part of both the O/O and the companies.

Were they "ahead of the curve?" Probably. MOST geniuses ARE! MY business failed because I was one of the first in my state to remanufacture toner cartridges for laser printers and copiers. 10 years later.... it was not only "chic," it was being done by the OEM manufacturers to compete with US! :roll:

Are APU's a BETTER answer? Possibly. But, companies don't want to pay for them for trucks who RARELY idle for long periods of time. Hence, I/A would be a better choice for them WHEN it is needed.

I have CONTINUED to go to the same (and some other) truckstops BEFORE and AFTER I/A installation, and find a negligible problem finding a parking spot. Of course, I paid the mere $10 for a membership so that I can park in one of their spots if they were all that was available. I've NEVER been hassled for doing so!

Alot of the arguments put forward on this thread just don't matter. IF you go to a small fuel stop to park, it makes no difference to YOU, I/A... or ME! Help yourself, but you weren't a "player" in the first place! :roll:

I have 5 hours of credit on my card, but have never used it! But, I have parked in their spots many times! I have no problem backing out without hitting another truck, and those who CAN'T would probably hit you if they were parked on the other side of the lot! :lol:

Everything I have seen in their publications and by talking to them tells me that NO movie costs $10.... so that is just an exageration!

I am sorry to hear they are in bankruptcy! But, who ISN'T these days? I think their problem was too much expansion too early on! They had/have a great idea, but their CEO wasn't a good businessman! Capital expansion should be based on capital returns! NOT on speculation! They should NEVER have invested so much in rapid expansion and national coverage without national accounts backing them!

MANY here have "downed" the attributes of APU's.... yet THOSE companies also speculated on the current fuel crisis AND State's anti-idling laws! FACT is..... BOTH were RIGHT!

Are EITHER solutions the "cat's meow?" NOT YET! But both are ahead of the alternative of paying exhorbitant prices for fuel that is getting a truck NOWHERE!

We Americans.... and especially we truckers..... need to decide what side of the fence we are on! Can we find a way to live in harmony with the environment and the economy? Or will be "pighead" ourselves into extinction?

There are 3 times the trucks, airplanes and passenger vehicles on the roads today than a mere 30 years ago! At this rate, global warming isn't a joke..... it's a pending catastrophe! :shock:

And our dependence on the ARABS is increasing at a rate we MAY not be able to STOP! THEY don't care about global warming or polution.... do you know WHY? First.... because how much hotter can a DESERT get? And second.... because they are basicaly FLATLANDS over which the winds continue to blow ALL polution over and away from them! They have no Rocky Mtns, or Sierras, to TRAP pollution over their major cities! They see nothing but BLUE skies everyday! :roll:

WE, as a country, have set the standard for oil consumption throughout the World, and WE must be the FIRST to see the problems and correct them! Once again, we are called upon to be LEADERS! But, once again... I fear we are found LACKING!

At $1.85 per hour, IdleAire is a savings that no one can refute at the current cost of diesel! WHATEVER the imperfections, it should be supported as the most technologically advanced solution to the problem ( as relates to the trucking industry) to come down the pike in the last half century!

Their biggest problem is that they haven't been successful at formulating their IPO properly! Those who are currently "speculating" on oil prices would be FOOLS not to get in on this, if it were offered properly! UNLESS, of course, they expect to make MORE by gouging the public on gas prices for the SHORT TERM that those investments can last, before a total collapse of the economy!

It's just like Americans to REJECT ideas that make sense! And it is even MORE like the American Trucker to do so! :roll:

 

Let's see. We have a TEAM driver that says "But, companies don't want to pay for them for trucks who RARELY idle for long periods of time." Last time I checked (granted that was over three years ago) most SOLO drivers parked for 10 hours. And most of the year they idled their trucks. Why? Because it was either to hot or to cold to get a good nights sleep.

The start-up cost for IdleAire was just to high. Even with the government grants they were able to receive. Then add to these high cost they didn't have enough customer base to make this profitable.

For those who have driven for a few years will recall when many truckstops were wired for cable tv and phone service. That service was also folded because the cost was higher that customers will willing to pay.

Global warming is a joke. As much as Al Gore would like to claim global warming has and is happening the data doesn't support the claim. Does the weather cycle? Sure but that doesn't equated some catastrophe event. Global warming is happening on Mars and it sure doesn't have humans that is causing this warming.

I agree all drivers should practice fuel conservation and one of the best ways to reduce speed.

kc0iv

 

I agree global warming is a joke. I remember reading back in the 70's it was global cooling right? Correct me if I'm wrong on now! I don't believe in it cause we didn't cause the last ice age and when volcanoes erupt thousands and tons of carbon monoxide go up into the atmosphere. Global Warming is a bunch of bull :dung: I got an email from a friend of mine that read Al Gore is trying to get some carbon tax passed that will line his pockets even more. I don't remember what it all said but also I hear that Al Gore is having a lawsuit filed against him saying his global warming accusations are false! :?

 

Global Warming = High for May 17, 2008, Seattle Wa....84

High for Beaumont Tx....69


Yeah...lopsided global warming!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

...And didnt Seattle just get a :dung: load of snow, just a few weeks ago. Global warming is a hoax, a hypothesis without fact is still a hypothesis. Many Climatologists, Meteorologists, Scientist are saying there is no fact to back it up.
Oops...derailing the post...OK, Back to bashing IdleAire.

 

My brother tells me the the Puyallup and Cedar rivers are out of the banks today

 

Humans will become extinc weather you bike to work , don't idle your truck , and save the rain forest ...Fact is life on this planet is a temporary thing species come and go ...we get fossil fuel from oil that is the result of the remains of extinct life on this planet ...this extinct life did not drive cars or produce chemical waste ...but they're gone . funny how todays green peace activists seem to neglect the fact that life on planet earth has a natural history of extinction ...and who knows when the humans will get their calling ,but i'd bet it's long before the debateable threat of global warming does us in .

 

Ahh, truckers' comments on climatology. What, all the spots in Truck Driver Law School were taken, so you guys chose to become scientists instead?

 

Now you know we all had careers before Trucking. Lawyers/Climatology/Meteorologists and some of us were even Scientists. Once we found out how financially lucrative trucking is, we left those loser careers and became Truckers :lol:

 

John Coleman is a local weather guy in San Diego. He was also one of the founders of the weather channel. He has called Al Gore's bluff on this issue.
http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemans.../12661711.html