clean air idle sticker
 

My new truck is an '09 mack with one of those new exhaust aftertreatment systems on it. Many drivers at the truck stops have asked me if i can idle whenever and wherever i want to. I've had this truck since winter and i've idled it during the winter months and had no problems. I do shut it down when it is comfortable to do so, but my question is when it starts getting a little warmer out can i idle my motor without having issues? There is a sticker on the front of the truck that says something like clean air idle if that helps.

Are you asking about legally or technically?

Legally it does not matter how clean your engine idles. Idle laws don't make a distinction between engines.

Technically.....as will it hurt the engine.....I have no idea.

I seem to recall reading something about California allowing the clean air trucks to idle. You need to check their website to be sure. As far as other states, I have no idea if there is an exemption. The main ones are New Jersey, New York and Connecticut. Basically, it is the communist states that don't allow trucks to idle.

NJ allows idling during a driver's ten hour break. Now, that exemption is set to expire with in the next year though.

NY allows a truck to idle when the outside temp is 25 or below. No exemption for summer months though.

were can you buy just the sticker??? Thats really all you would need.

That's the craziest thing I've ever heard. Not allowed to idle in some states. Even at truck stops?

Even ANYWHERE, truck stops, rest areas, loading docks, you name it.

I guess that's where an APU would come in. You can't idle, but an APU can run? Funny.

That depends too. California has said that some APU's can't be run either. I guess they'd rather have dead drivers to deal with - they're not as mouthy.

That's crazy. I guess, cars don't pollute either.

Of course not. No gasoline burning vehicle pollutes - only diesels that power the equipment to keep the shelves full in all the Wal Marts.

Cars don't idle for 10-12 hours a day, most times unnecessarily.

You can thank the BBR's that never shut their trucks off, no matter how nice it was out for the idle laws. Maybe if they had taken the time to turn the key off, there wouldn't be a need for the laws.

Copy the one Belpre posted, print it off the computer onto a gummed sheet, and stick it on your truck.....
:lol2::lol2::lol2::clap::clap::clap:

Or catch Bel sleeping and take that one.....:eek2:

Ya right!!!!!

I don't blame them. Well, it's one thing if it's nice out. Wind blowing through the truck winders, and it's in the 60s. That's not bad. On the other hand, if you are in Texas, or anywhere in the hot south, it's nice to keep an air conditioner running. My electric bill is pretty steep in the summer, but I be darn if I'm gonna suffer.

I don't imagine you've had any thought that the mouse might have had a bit extra Uumph in that swing, did you?

Let's see... You're a local driver with a day-cab.... Sleep in your own bed at night, not in the Don't run in the cold climates in winter, or the south in the summer. Must be nice. Next time your truck won't start because it's too cold to get the engine to spin over, you might want to see if I'm there with my chain. I lost count how many trucks I pull started last winter because the oil was just too thick for the starter to move. Oh, yeah... Hope your a/c dies on you during the "DOG DAYS OF SUMMER". You can put a blanket down under the trailer and try to sleep there because the cab is too warm.

As a matter of curiousity... Has anybody ever given any thought to the damage down to the crank and bearings during starting? Oil pressure at 0, rotating speed very slow, metal actually touching metal... Not as bad as having the bearings and journals dry, but it does "wipe" the surfaces of the metals against each other, and does shorten the life of the engine. Not to mention the brush life in the starter.

I've heard that "newer" motors can start/shut-off better than older motors-that it doesn't hurt them to do so. I call it a bunch of bull. A motor cranks the same, whether it's 20 years old, or just came out of the factory.

Windywalker, I did run a sleeper truck for years, and as a matter of fact, I was the 1st one in the fleet to have aux heating for the winter climate here. I am talking in 96, when it was unheard of. I also shut my truck off when it wasn't necessary for survival. All I am saying is many of the present idle laws were brought about by those who never shut their trucks off and idled needlessly, even when the laws were being talked about. They could have shown some give and take by voluntarily cutting down on idle time, but didn't. It didn't fit the Last American Cowboy/ Convoy mentality that many Dwellers have.

As far as you pulling my truck when it is cold, I wouldn't worry about that too much. Our trucks are kept in nice heated buildings so they are ready to go at a moments notice and don't sit out for any length of time.


As far as my AC not working, the most it would be is for a day, and that would only happen if the required part wasn't in stock at our shop to fix it when I got in, and again, I don't see ever having a need to sleep under a trailer like some homeless stew bum. But hey, to each their own, if that is your thing go for it. :thumbsup:

They say that a truck in L.A. puts out cleaner air than it takes in......maybe we should get 1,000 trucks to sit in the armpit of California and idle for a week to clean up the air.:clap:

funny part is the officer that will write you a ticket probably has a system in his car that will allow the cruiser to idle without the key in it. :eek1: so that he can get back into is ice cold air conditioned car when he is done.

What is even funnier is the fact that the uneducated highway heroes don't know that a truck diesel puts out far more harmful toxins and pollutants than a gas engine. :roll:

Ever see a haze of smoke hanging over an area where there are a bunch of cars idling? Me either. But I have seen and felt the effects of the smoke hanging over any truck stop parking lot.

These anti idling laws are mostly about control and money....mostly money. Otherwise, there would not be exemptions for pets as they have in some states. If you have a pet in your truck you can idle all you want in most states. It seems that people are not as important as a dog in those states. I did read that Kalifornia is thinking about removing the pet exemption.

Ahhh... Chicago. Doesn't get all that cold in winter, and doesn't get all that warm in summer either. Try Corpus Christi, TX in the middle of July, and the A/C pump locks up. The company tells you that they will not have it fixed out on the road, and you have to get it back to the yard in WI tob have that replaced. Didn't have a lot of choice but to sleep under the trailer, in the shade. Had it been a reefer, I would have slept IN IT.

Or, try Minot, ND right behind an Alberta Clipper. Even with an APU, tell me you can shut your truck off and have it start in the morning.

That's what I figured. Hey, did you know that after you've driven local for a while, they won't hire you to go OTR anymore? I understand it has something to do with being "OUT OF TOUCH".


Really? Where have you been?

Don't know if I can find it, but I did read an article a few years ago, where Austrailia did a "REAL-TIME STUDY" of minors, working underground, with diesel equipment. Over a 30-year period, the minors had 15% fewer cases of cancer than the general public. And, that was not using any of the low-sulphur fuels. Think about it. Confined area like an underground mine. How many engines running. Surrounded with the fumes every working day, for years at a time, and less cases of cancer than people that get fresh air. If pollutants from a diesel engine were that great, the cancer rate would have been the other way around.

The engines we had in our trucks 15 years ago put out 30 parts per million of NOX, and only 10 parts per million of Carbon-monoxide. A gasoline engine without pollution controls puts out 130 parts per million of carbon-monoxide, and I don't remember the NOX. With pollution controls, the gasoline engine still puts out 30 parts per million of Carbon-monoxide, and about 10 to 15 parts of NOX.

In FL, during the peak of the tourist season, along clearwater beach, with traffic bumper to bumper, and going nowhere fast, you can see a haze in the air. Same thing at the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs. No trucks, just cars, bumper to bumper... And idling. And, the breeze is coming our of the gulf. No trucks out there either. And, it's worse than the haze I've seen over truck stops.

Take Rte 60 over the bridge to Clearwater Beach, and from the island, where all the cars are, you can see the source of the haze. Same goes for going across Causeway Blvd to Honeymoon Island during tourist season.

Idling cars most certainly do produce a haze.

It must have sucked to work for a fly by night company like that. Sorry for your bad choice.
I know I would have been in a nice air conditioned motel in a heartbeat. But hey, I guess sleeping in/under a trailer is part of the lifestyle of the last American Cowboy.:thumbsup:

I believe there are exceptions for conditions like that in most idle laws, isn't there? Besides, my contention is that there is a whole lot of , here, I'll go real slow here just for you WW, UNNECESSARY idling that could have been eliminated before these laws were put forth.



Did you know that what I do as a local driver they won't hire an OTR driver because as a rule OTR drivers couldn't get around without the company planning every move and policy for them? Besides, I have no intention of ever joining the mobile homeless ranks.


Yeah, and there is a study out there that global warming is man made also. :roll: It is amazing how studies always end up with favorable results for whomever is paying for said study.