Can anyone tell this is a BIG pet peeve of mine??? :lol:
Let's LOOK at some of the info from the
www.IdleAire.com website!
Quote:
The company is the outgrowth of a challenge originally issued to A.C. Wilson, a Tellico Plains, Tennessee, contractor, by his brother-in-law, a long haul truck driver fresh off a New Jersey run.
How could a driver park, shut off the engine (along with its noise, fumes and vibration) and still stay warm or cool while having access to the comforts of home?
Here's the FIRST problem! The WHOLE idea was thunked up by a couple of "incest related" bohunks from the most backward state in the UNION!!
And the one doing the "Wundering" was a WIMP who really wanted to STAY AT HOME and shouldn't have been allowed to drive OTR in the first place!
Quote:
Since June 2000, IdleAire has further refined Wilson's original design and made significant strides with truck fleets and travel plazas, as well as the federal and state environmental and highway safety entities.
Here's their FIRST lie!! Can someone show me where the fmcsa has "signed on" to this??? And where they have made EQUAL strides to replace these parking spots for truckers??
Quote:
Who Benefits » Lot Owners / Travel Centers
There are good reasons IdleAire is the choice of travel centers (and fleet terminals and other extending [sic] idling locations) from coast-to-coast.
Drivers love us
Fleets love us
We're the only idling alternative that keeps travel centers financially whole by providing income that exceeds any lost fuel sales
We provide turnkey installation and operation with no cost to you
We create a new revenue stream for you that is entirely profit
We drive store sales for accessories used with the IdleAire system
Well.... I guess they've NEVER heard of an APU!!! Income that exceeds lost fuel sales??? PROVE IT!!! What does the T/S make off of one night's stay in an IdleAire spot?? Does that exceed fuel sales for a truck that idles all night? How about those fuel sales they LOSE from people like Windwalker and ME who won't give them our business?? And HOW does using IdleAire mean that they LOSE fuel sales??? You either NEED to fuel when you stop there... or you DON'T!
And WHAT "store sales" are required for use with IdleAire??
Quote:
Fleets Win
Unlike any other idling alternative, a $10 window adapter is the only retrofit virtually any long-truck on the road needs to use the IdleAire system
With a one-hour minimum and a per minute charge after that, IdleAire provides an immediate savings in fuel, maintenance and engine wear & tear … and fleets pay for only what drivers use, when they use it
Second lie! The adapters are, and HAVE been $15 dollars or more since the first time I asked! IIRC, there IS NO one hour minimum! I believe you pay a basic rate that is good for 24 hours (whether you use it or not) for the basic services! After THAT... it might be hourly, but MANY of the additional services are per POP!
Quote:
IdleAire's heating and air conditioning system is a closed, filtered system, which draws air from inside your cab (not the outside) and filters it about once every minute. This makes the air you breathe inside your cab much cleaner and healthier than the air you breathe outside your cab.
As your cab's air is filtered and then heated or cooled, it is also subjected to an ultraviolet light treatment that immediately kills viruses, bacteria, spores, etc. IdleAire provides one of the most sanitary air handling systems available ANYWHERE.
So it "filters" the stale, carbon dioxide laden, air from inside your cab?? Heats and cools it? But.... does it infuse FRESH oxygen??? I LIKE the fact that it kills germs, bacteria, etc., but are we just breathing our OWN stale air for 10 hours or more?? NO WONDER we sleep better!! We're being induced into a COMA! :lol:
Quote:
Q. What entices parking lot owners, such as those at travel centers, to let you install this system on their property?
A. Parking lots traditionally don't produce revenue. Parking lot owners share in the revenue from the IdleAire system, creating a new revenue center in a low margin business without any investment on their part. In addition, these areas become better neighbors to adjacent residents by significantly reducing air pollution and noise.
"Sell it to the AYER FORCE, MAYO!!!" There's not a truck stop in the country that doesn't make money off the truckers in their parking lot!!! Granted, some of you who eat out of your trucks, and never show your faces, MIGHT be somewhat at fault for the onslaught of IdleAire.... but, I doubt if you are really a "determining factor." Some of you actually PAY for showers! And, if you don't.... it's because they can stand to LOSE $9 for a shower if they get $400 or more for fuel! Add in the profit from the restaurant and convenience store??? Come on!!! NO REVENUE from a parking lot??? What kind of idiots are RUNNING this show??
Quote:
Energy Implications
An idling diesel engine is a terribly inefficient source of energy for heating, cooling and ventilating a truck cab. During winter, when idling keeps the engine as well as the sleeper cab warm, 85% of the energy in diesel fuel is wasted as heat and atmospheric pollutants. In summer, when used for cooling, the efficiency falls and more than 94% of the fuel's energy is wasted.
I question this entire stream of logic!! I get about 5 miles per gallon going down the road. I can IDLE all night for about 2 or 3 gallons (I think - the needle hardly moves!) So.... at say, $2.50/gallon, that's $7.50 per night for heating and cooling. That's about the cost of my monthly power bill at home! And besides..... going down the road at 75 mph, I'm burning fuel faster and pushing out MORE of that "inefficent exhaust" per hour!
Now, don't get me wrong. I actually have DONE the math, and I think IdleAire MIGHT be more cost efficient than idling. But, IMHO, that is NOT the point! My point would be that IDLING produces less pollutants per hour than DRIVING the truck. And I am running the A/C or heat while driving, too!
Quote:
Health Implications
Research linking diesel exhaust and many of its components to health impacts has been exhaustively compiled by well-recognized organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control, the Environmental Protection Agency and others. Components of diesel emissions include carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and particulate matter. The emissions from commercial diesel engines can produce a range of short-term and long-term health risks and effects.
And your POINT IS??? IF, as I suspect, we burn a mere 5 gallons or so while idling overnight, that is ONE MILE of driving!!! (not EVEN enough time to bypass your sh#tty little town!!) Look at your local power plant!!! 24 hours a day of emissions in your "neighborhood!" Global warming IS a serious issue... no doubt! But, I don't think that IdleAire is the answer! An average of 50,000 cars idling for 30 minutes every morning to get "warm" before driving 50 miles in traffic, taking them 2 hours, emit MORE exhaust fumes than a 100 parking spot T/S in ONE night!
And as for you WIMPS that can't stand my SMOKING in a PUBLIC SPACE that I pay taxes for.... I GUESS, based on the above statistics, that you have NO BUSINESS being anywhere NEAR a Big Truck, Truck Stop or the Trucking Industry!!!
Take your "candy azzes" home and close the doors and windows!!! The whole WORLD "STINKS!" And my cigarette is the LEAST of your problems!!! :shock: :roll: :lol:
All THAT being said.... I kinda LIKE IdleAire (though I haven't had the chance to use it yet.) I just DON'T like the way they are MONOPOLIZING spaces in the allready crowded Truck Stops! Check out their website and SEE how they have contracts to "take over" nearly EVERY decent sized Truck Stop in the country!!!
Next thing you know.... they'll be wanting to take away your GUNS, too!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
HOBO!