I am sure we are being dooped....i read that the oil in the Gulf is as much or more than what is in the middle east all together.

I feel sorry for the people, like the O/O who have to pay for this twice....once at the pump then again in all the higher prices we pay for everything else.

It is going to be interesting to see how this all shakes out in the end, but in the meanwhile we all have to survive.

tootie

tootie

Mountain Flyer, I was talking with someone earlier today about these apu's. I am not sure that they are worth the money and extra maintenance. I am glad to hear that you are trying to stay away from these fuel money loads. If these prices continue to rise, those prices won't even cover the cost of fuel. I fail to understand why people haul freight that has no profit. I guess they don't teach math in school any more. :roll:

GMAN, what were some of the reason this person or you feel that APU's aren't worth it? I know you are one of those old time truckers that are more indifferent to the elements but us new school truckers are a bit more, shall we say, less tolerant of certain things.

I have no idea how anyone who lives in Idaho doesn't use this thing. Good God man I just passed through there and froze my a** off. I slept 2 inches away from the heat vent.

Anyway, someone made a comment here one time that stuck in my head. That the bean counters at Walmart are installing them and I'm sure they know what they are doing.

Mountianflyer....what shop were you in?? We lived in LaPine for a year and there was a shop we used in Bend.....cant remember the name of it right now though....

I LOVE central OR. I would move back there in a heartbeat if one could make good money there.

tootie

I am not indifferent to the elements. I really don't care for cold weather, but I will go where the rates are best. It is expensive to idle all the time. With fuel being over $3/gallon in most areas, it will cost $3/hour to idle your truck. At first look the apu seems like it makes sense. The problem is that these units cost about $7-8M. They also need maintenance. Oil needs to be changed more frequently than on your truck. That takes time, but not necessarily a lot of money if you do it yourself. It is one of those things which we all need to weigh. When I look at expenditures I want to see the cost benefit and a payout. Unless I see a way for something that expensive to be cost effective, I won't even entertain spending the money. You burn fuel whether you idle or run an apu. It is a matter of how much fuel you burn. I have heard of some who have had to idle along with running their apu to stay warm or cool. At this point, I doubt that I would go to the expense of having one installed on my trucks. However, I might give serious consideration to buying a truck with one already installed. Some states, such as California, are even looking at legislation to prohibit diesel powered apu's. I don't recall the entire story, but I would be seriously upset if some government who wanted to force me to install an apu would turn around a year later and tell me that I could not run the apu. :x

Tootie, I was at Brattain International, right next door to Mermo? Freightliner. Found them at 1 a.m. when traffic was light and I made it in to their dealership with no clutch by using judicious "red light rolling" and jamming in and out of gear. Good folks there; they treated me pretty fair and were very polite and nice.

Bend is a beautiful town. Reminds me of Boise 25 years ago, before the Californians took over. Same thing is happening in Bend... being overrun with rich folks. :x

Leave it to the flipping Californians to come up with something like that Gman. Would not surprise me one bit... probably if your dog was in the truck, you could idle to your hearts content so as not to be accused of animal abuse. Yet its OK for YOU to sit there freezing or cooking. Don't even get me started, man... this world is so upside down; right is wrong, wrong is right, and if it's insane, it makes perfect sense.... :x :x :x :x :x

Seriously, though... I think an APU is great IF you have money burning a hole in your pocket. I sat down one day and did some math, and it would take me about six years to pay back the cost of an APU. I simply will put on a sweater or crawl under the blankets most of the time instead of idling in cold weather. I have found I can stay quite comfy in my truck unless it is less than 20 degrees outside.... at least for awhile... by the time I wake up in the early morning with my teeth a chatterin', it's time to turn the truck on, cost be damned!!!

It is a shame that we can't be comfortable without breaking some law those who passed it would not obey themselves. :evil: These types of idiotic laws will continue to get passed until people begin to stand up to the politicians and special interest whacko's.

Same feelings here. Whatever they charge, we will pay. Pass on a percentage fuel surcharge to the customer, 20-30% works good for us. Stay away from brokers that cant pay better. They are taking a large cut of the linehaul and all of the fuel surcharge. When you go under for hauling that crap (Pepe), they find another sucker.

Politics is not about common sense or doing what is right. It's about pleasing the most amount of people and when your dealing with such a small group as truckers, who gives a sh**. Why waste your time when there are much bigger problems to solve.