bc...as in my previous post, on this tread. My company put the Thermo King Tripac on my truck about a month ago. Even has the 1800w inverter under the bunk. A/C works great inverter works great.
As an O/O you should be lovin it.

 

My company spent millons of dollors to equip every one of thier tractors with apus. Last count was 1600 tractors. Both TK and Carriers. And they are already started to recoup the costs.
They saw this fuel issuse getting bad over a year ago, when they started pulling drivers into Mondovi, Or St. Paul to have them installed.
In the two differant trucks ive had with apus( got assinged anew truck in March) my ilde time is down to .84. Before i had an apu, i was in the mid 80's %
Love that apu, and love the 1,800 watt factory installed inverter even more.
IT just blows my mind, that my company, a mid sized carrier, could spend the money, and do this, but from reading all these post, the super carriers, Engalnd,Swift, Schinder, JB have yet to add apus, then turn around and yell at thier drivers for idling so long. Well gee use the brains God gave you Mister CEO. doh!

 

I want to thank All that responded to my message. Alot of Good, Bad & Ugly came back. But some good sharing and eye openers from several angles. I do believe after reading all responses the final jest on this one is:

1) All need to beable to idle to stay comftorable & safe.
2) The companies should want to have & keep their drivers comftorable & safe.
3) The companis should ( for Company Drivers) bare the fuel costs or do some major equipment corrections.
4) Drivers do need to help monitor their Idle times when practical to help lower costs, but not when sleeping.
4) An APU does save ALL and is the way to go to lower Ideling costs for ALL. Company's and O/O.
5) Companies need to stop scare tactics and move forward with positive corrections to the situation that will be a win - win for ALL.
6) APU show an immediate lower of Ideling times & Costs.

Lets HOPE, that the companys ( Large or Small) that are having the issues of fuel costs & ideling take a closer look at the positive savings that APU installations will do and the quick pay back on this investment they will benefit from. Only time will tell.

Again Thanks to ALL.

Mr C

 

I have seen some high idle times but dang it man, plz tell me how you were averaging in the mid 80's on your percentage, thats almost like never even driving and just parking the truck and living in it.

 

I have seen some high idle times but dang it man, plz tell me how you were averaging in the mid 80's on your percentage, thats almost like never even driving and just parking the truck and living in it.[/quote]


well in the summers for most part i was kept in the south where its humid and hot. In the winters, Nothing but I-80. Of coures i'm going to stay comfortable. And when your shut down do to closed road for day(s) at a time, i'm not about to freeze for the company's fuel savings.
Yes i was asked by the office why my ilde time was so high, i said , well why don't you look where you have been keeping me.
Two things changed real fast. Started to go to all diff parts of the country year round. And then i was sent to Carrier in St. Paul for instaliation of my first apu.
Since then idle time has dropped almost to nothing.

 

The job of a CEO isn't to make the employees happy, it's to make the shareholders happy. If the drivers idle less, the company as a whole saves money. With some of the larger companies (Swift, CRE, Werner) saving as little as 1 gallon of fuel per day over a fleet of 500 trucks would save the company almost $750,000 per year in fuel costs.

Math for my fictional scenario:
500 trucks
1 gallon per day saved
330 days in the truck (35 days off per year)
$4.50 per gallon

Take that same scenario an apply it to a company like Swift who has 16,000+ trucks or Werner with roughly 9,000 trucks.

Swift would save $23,760,000 in fuel, and Werner would save $13,365,000. Swift is privately owned now, but Werner would be saving just over 13 million dollars...that makes the shareholders very happy because that's a decent ROI (return on investment). Not only that, but every executive, junior executive, and mid level manager would get a nice fat bonus at the end of the year.

The more they can screw the drivers, the shop employees, and all the other peons, the better. It's more money in their pocket - as far as they're concerned, if it's hot you can just roll down the windows and turn their truck off so they can buy another new BMW 7 series this year. After all, the one they drive now is almost a year old - egad!

 

If they can'nt afford to keep you cool or warm, 40% of the day or nite.. Run!! Do they sweat or freeze? Would the labor board be in that office if it was 90 degrees? Would they work in those conditions? Did they get rid of their SUVS and buy mini coppers? Did they turn down their speed driving home?

 

just an FYI for you, Marten, though I do like the company, they did not open their pockets for millions of dollars......
they got a grant from the state of Wisconsin to put the APUs on their trucks as part of a nationwide study.

 

Oh man I got a good one for that. My office shutdown last week because the AC broke. They set a limit, once it got to 90 degrees inside they all went home. Instead of opening the windows since a nice little breeze was blowing, they kept everything shut tight. So the answer to your question is no they won't work in those conditions at least for my company.

 

go here
http://marten.com/images/Transporter/2007_06_June.pdf
to read the June 06 company newsltter, type in news when prompted.
Yes the state did give them a grant. But it was only a millon dollors, so Marten could install a few on tractors, and see the benifit of having apus placed on all trucks