Manufacturers recommend running the engine for five minutes to cool it down before shutting it off, but many drivers won't wait. Minor repairs may start at $300.ĭespite truck manufacturers' assurances to the contrary, many drivers remain convinced that needless wear is caused when stopping and starting a diesel engine. The way to avoid that is let her idle.'' Jump-starting a diesel can cost around $100. ''They have to make a drop, and if the engine won't start in the middle of winter, or anytime, they are finished. ''A lot of truckers are under the gun,'' Mr. In the summer, cabs and perishable cargoes must be cooled. 2013 F250 IDLE TIMER DRIVERPower is also needed for heaters, lights, and more in the living space just behind the driver where he or she spends the night, eats, reads, and watches TV. In cold weather, a truck's engine and fuel tank need to stay warm. Truckers, both independent owner-operators and fleet drivers, leave their engines idling for three main reasons: weather conditions, economic pressures, and old habits. ''The community surrounding the truck stop is bearing the burden of these emissions,'' says Steve Allen, a project manager for Energy Research Group in Boston, a consulting firm for energy issues. The problem is diesel-powered, but the solution may be electrical. About half that idling time occurs at truck stops, according to another estimate. For 3,221 hours the truck is running but stopped, the engine rumbling at a low idle. But it's only hauling freight for 3,095 hours - less than half that time. The average diesel truck covers 130,000 miles per year, spending 6,316 hours on the road, according to the ATA's Truck Maintenance Council. Some 56 percent of all freight in the US is hauled by trucks.Īccording to Vic Suski, senior automotive engineer with the American Trucking Association (ATA), burning a gallon of diesel fuel at idle ''puts as much as 2.5 times the amount of ozone elements in the air as a gallon burned on the road.'' Truck stops are major stationary sources of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon dioxide, and volatile organic chemicals. With an estimated 1.28 million long-haul diesel trucks on American roads, the number of hours spent idling are in the billions. While they eat lunch with the other drivers in the restaurant, their truck will idle outside, rumbling quietly in the freezing weather to keep the engine and fuel warm.Īccording to a report by the American Trucking Association, the hundreds of thousands of diesel trucks idling across the United States at truck stops are a major emissions problem.Įven though the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently restricted the sulfur content of diesel fuel to cut pollution, tougher federal emissions restrictions may lie ahead if the trucking industry cannot curtail idling trucks. The Wombles, a husband-and-wife driving team, will also stop - but not stop. All have one thing in common: Even though this is a truck ''stop,'' their diesel engines are running. Eight other trucks are here already, parked side by side. AT noon, Mark and Jamie Womble pull their 18-wheeler into the snowy lot behind Trader Alan's Truck Stop just off Interstate 95.
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