How Many of You Do This?...
 

i asked a fellow truck driver to not leave his truck idling the other day. he said he wanted to keep the cab cool(a/c on). it was early morning with temp ~65F and a slight breeze!

does anyone else "challenge" other drivers this way? must admit tho, if i didn't know him, prolly wouldn't do it.

BTW, my company implimented a new policy to save fuel recently...

we send routes out twice per day to reconcile mistakes, out of stocks, etc. previously we left our refer units running while the truck(engine off) was at the dock.

this caused two wasteful issues:
1)the obvious refer running issue
2)when the dock is full(trucks outnumber bay doors 3 to 1), other drivers have to wait with refer on because of returns, pickups, etc.

now, procedure dictates that upon returning and unloading(returns, pickups, pallets,etc.), each driver pulls out his truck immediately and turns off both motors. he/she may then do paperwork and go home or help get the second delivery ready, whichever scheduled for.

now ideally we try to estimate 20 minutes to back and precool the truck before loading. each route varies, so this "refer off" time amounts to ~1 to 3 hours. the fuel savings is pretty significant over the course of a year!

Yeah I nag people I know about idling already, but would likely not do it to a stranger, unless it was a big truck sitting outside my house.... the city here made a bylaw against idling by the way, so if it was a regular event, I'd call 'em with the company name etc.

In this area most leave their trucks running when they go inside to get something to eat. This can mean 5 minutes to 30 minutes. It is rare to see the truck turned off. It makes no sense, and I would like to see a law banning it in PA. Also, those small busses, they leave them running when they get something to eat. It makes no sense, and that should be illegal in PA. Another one, the small buses that take a patient to the doctors office, they too usually leave the bus running while waiting for the patient. We waste so much fuel, and polute so much into the air. Stupid IMO.

I don't nag people, but play stupid and say with a puzzled look on my face " Your engine is running ." ( At which point they say 'yah' and go on yapping just like we have seen above.
I have heard continuiously the same response when I ask why they leave it running : "It's better to keep the engine running than to turn it off on a diesel. Besides, I have the A/C going."

The answer to that is, only when it's -20 or so, for continuous running.

That is pretty much the going thought on idling in MN...it's sad really, since I work at an Elementary School I see so many Parents leaving their vehicles running...I'll make a mention that they left their car running. Their response "I want to keep it warm" Like running in for 5 minutes to drop your kid off is going to have dire effects on cabin temperature :rolleyes:

I could pull the Jerk-card and have a sign put up in front of the building stating "No Idling", at least then I could have a good reason (to them) to have their motors off..."fresh air intake on this side of the building, ma'am, you don't want to poison the children now, do you?"

I've been asked in a very self-righteous, opinionated way to shut off the engine while stopped : https://www.gassavers.org/showthread....astroenteritis

How should I vote on the poll? :)

A word of warning to those who ask others to shut off their engines; it is impossible to know exactly why that person is idling their engine. In my case, I'm glad it wasn't the guy who came up to me, because I'm sure he would have been more aggressive and then ended up coming to grief.

If you are going to do it, the best way would be to make some little A5 size printouts, showing how much petrol a car uses idling (on my last car, the same as driving at 20mph), and how much money they could save by shutting off the engine, how much CO2 they produce etc, then let them know tactfully, being careful not to have an eco-warrior stance about you :)

And make sure you don't tell it to an extreme hypermiler / energy-saver at home / work etc, on the rare day when they are unwell on the first day of a 4-day holiday, knowing that their pre-arranged holiday has been ruined!

I always tried to persuade fellow students that starting their car for lunch break was the worst possible thing they could do on the -30 F days here. Not only does it kill the engine to start in such frigied weather, waste gas, but they didnt' even drive anywhere, they just thought they're newer free from the parents cars wouldn't start after school if they didn't do this, even though my 1980's cars always started up just fine.

I paid for the fuel, I'll idle if I feel like it.

I won't bother anybody else about theirs, either. Nunna my bidness.