What ever happened to common courtesy????

[raceman]

To address the fridge size, well it matters not what size it is, you have to start up to charge batteries now and then. Actually a dome light light will kill batteries quicker than a fridge. In any case as I said above got to idel now and then for a few to cover that.

Draco, I really do hear you but as for spots you saw when you awoke they really may not have been there when he drove through. I have have that happen a few times. Folks pull out after you park and climb in bed. That may explain that.

I am not defending this driver as much as I am the ideling. It is done period and it is done to meet the truck and drivers needs. If it is done because he or she does not want to turn the key, well that is wrong but if it is for comfort and current or charge well that is a truck. Sorry. I do agree they should do everything possible to stay away from the four wheelers but it is simply not always possible. Too many trucks and not enough spaces. Pass this on to the DOT and explain this is another reason they need to work with States and Cities etc to get us more parking instead of cutting back and screwing with hours on top of it.

Raceman
OTR O/O

 

[late for dinner]

WOW Rich I never thought of that. I'v heard of people doing that on Long Island so they could sleep in someones loading dock after the store is closed but I never thought to try it at Wal-Mart

 

[ATeam]

>Shutting an engine off should not even be considered in the
>realms of common courtesy! Ones personal comfort should be.
>You pound pavement for hours on end--pull into a parking
>spot and shut the engine off. Even if the outside temp is a
>cool 70 degrees a larger vehicles tires engine rear end
>transmission etc are much hotter. within less than 1 hour,
>all of that heat is going to find its way into the cab no
>matter how well it is insulated. the result is, you wake up
>with maybe an hours nap with sweat pouring off you.
>I was driving trucks before A/C's came along and heaters in
>trucks 35 years ago were'nt much to bragg about either.
>So--to Hell with the cost of fuel and with companies that
>offer fuel savings so called BONUSES. I'm out there AND I'm
>gonna be comfortable. SO, If an idling engine bothers
>someone, then try sleeping next to a BULL HAULER with your
>windows down!
>
>Pappy
>35 years OTR T/T

Pappy,

Please read the topic, "Idling Is Soooo Over!" at
http://www.expeditersonline.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=3953&forum=DCForumID1

Yesterday in Portland Oregon, the high was about 85 F. Last night, parked where we were at the Jubitz truck stop, temperatures declined to about 60 F.

I observed the same idling behavior this time as the last time we were here. While a handful of bobtail trucks idled through the night, the overwhelming majority of them did not. All of them were larger vehicles as you describe. Almost all of them turned their engines off within an hour of parking their rigs for the night.

Look around you. More and more, you will see drivers are turning off their trucks, especially when outside temperatures make it comfortable to do so.

There was a time when idling your truck was a macho, trucker thing to do, no matter how fair the weather might be. No more. A review of the trucking literature and what truckers are doing on the ground, including "real truckers" like yourself, show things are changing.

 

[sixwheeler]

I m with you on this Mr. Pappy. Waiting on a load or resting after one, entails a whole lot more than just sleeping. You re reading surfing, nuking something, watching tv, running the refrigerator, lights stereo, cb maybe, not to mention climate control/ air circulation.
People dont get off work from a regular job, go home, and shut down all of their utilities, sit around in the dark for the sake of energy conservation or environmental reasons. So why should truck drivers?
My truck is my home away from home out on the road, and all this anti idling tree hugging in peace with nature crapola blows. If you dont like trucks idling around you why in the world would you enter this profession in the first place.

 

[Jefferson3000]

Hey Phil,

I noticed the old thread. Haha! It was just as heated a discussion then as it is now. I understand that some trucks don't have a generator and need to idle. I am not out of town much overnight with my situation. When I have been, I have idled my gas van here and there if it was too cold. It's funny how some people get offended over asking them not to idle, when the REAL issue was always about a truck parking in a situation that was prohibited by management in the first place.

Thanks for the old thread.


Drive Safe!

Jeff

 

[jackdixon_2000]

I see so many drivers idle their trucks all day and night because it is their "right" and demand their comfort. By all means, if the outside temperatures are not conducive to sleep then you must run the truck.
It just bugs me when I see numerous trucks on nice cool days idling away. Often seeing drivers lock their truck and go into the truck stop
(yeah, maybe there is a codriver sleeping) The excuse that they need to keep running for appliances don't really get it for me, though. I don't have a generator but I did install a marine auxillary battery and can watch TV for about 10 hrs before I have to recharge. Its not that expensive to add some more auxillary power. I agree that the vibration and sound of the engine is very soothing and I sleep like a baby the few times I do have to run the truck all night. So, if thats the only way you can get a good nights sleep I understand.
I guess what I am getting at is, I wish people would just have more awareness when the truck is idling and ask themselves if at this time is it necessary?
For example, our driver that locked his running truck in Carlisle,Pa last fall and went into the Petro to have dinner for 45 minutes and didn't want to come back to a cold cab only to come back and find his truck and 4 million in pharmaceuticals gone (yeah, ok extreme case)

In the old days cold starts were very hard on engines waiting for the oil to heat and circulate thru the engine. Today it is much faster.
Engineers now say that idling has equivilant wear and tear on the engine as driving 60 mph down the highway.
So when I have to idle all night that fact kinda bothers me.

Now, you folks that park in truckstops. Idling and fumes is a nature of the beast. Yes the convienience of 24 hrs access is nice but if that stuff really bothers you you need to explore you're options. I probably spend 10% of my nights in truckstops. My first choice is at the gate for early morn p/u or delv (get to sleep a lil longer) then Walmarts and the like or even industrial areas where there are companies that don't open till latter in the morning and I can back up to their dock, if I may have a concern about someone breaking into my box.
When I do park in truckstops for the night I look for one spot between 2 backed in trucks and just nose my way to the front. If they are idling they are way behind me and I hardly hear em, plus if during the night I have a rookie driver backing in beside me they will hit the rear of my box rather then my cab

 

[bryan]

HI

Tolerance is a virtue.If your parked in a truck stop then expect to have to deal with trucks and the noise they make.They block out the "Shower number 821 is now ready" announcments.(I hate that woman, wish I could find that speaker and blow it up)

Truck's ideled in the old days because they were hard to start.They didn't have glow plugs, prechambers and fuel heaters back then.Some were also started with air starters.Now those were loud enough to wake the dead.

I also sleep better with the truck running.The diesel fumes keep the skeeters away.Bet there ain't been one case of West Niles Virus anywhere near a truck stop.

Now my complain is running a Jake brake in the truck stop.I can see no reason for that.

 

[geo]

walmart in newport news has sign's posted no idling on property
and one of our driver's was in western part of va and rec'd a ticket for idling the truck, when he was not sleeping, they gave him a warning and said if you are running the truck you need to be in the sleeper

 

[davebeckym]

Yeah,jake brakes and horns 'cause no matter what time of day it is, somebody is sleeping @ a truck stop.

 

[highway star]

Bryan, Shower number lady sounds kind of hot to me. It is totally obnoxious and uncalled for when some guy with straight pipes thinks he has to use his jake pulling into a truckstop. Even without the straight pipes. Heck, anywhere other than the big road for that matter.