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Mar 10, 2010

TRUCK IDLING * USA - Alabama bill would provide incentive to reduce it

An effort to reduce truck idling in Alabama is motoring along at the statehouse

Montgomery,AL,USA -Land Line Magazine -8 March 2010: ... The Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a bill that would increase the maximum gross vehicle, axle weight limits for large trucks equipped with idle-reduction technology. Trucks equipped with auxiliary power units would be authorized to weigh up to an additional 400 pounds... This marks the third straight year the legislation has advanced to the Senate floor after receiving widespread support in the House. The two previous years it didn’t get a floor vote before the session ended... (Image from blog.al.com: large truck)


* Tennessee - Opens up APU rebate program to truck owners

Nashville,TENN,USA -Land Line Magazine -March 8, 2010: -- Truck owners in Tennessee have the opportunity to obtain up to $4,000 in grant rebates to install an APU on their trucks... The program, run by the University of Tennessee, will provide 50 percent of the cost to purchase and install an APU, with a cap of $4,000... The program is available for companies with 30 or fewer trucks registered and operating in the state. “Priority will be given to fleets with five or fewer truck tractors,” according to a statement... Tennessee says about 85 percent of the state’s 16,000 motor carriers are fleets of five or fewer trucks... (Photo from: hankstruckpictures, by Mike Boyd: A US military equipment mover on I-40 in eastern TN. Sept. 2007)

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Feb 28, 2009

Shutting off the engines * USA - New law limits how long buses, trucks can idle

Clearing the air

Reading,PA,USA -The Reading Eagle, by Darrin Youker -27 Feb 2009: -- A new state law limits how long large diesel-fueled vehicles can sit without drivers shutting off the engines... And that includes school buses... Environmentalists say it will reduce greenhouse gases... Truckers say they need to run their engines to power electrical equipment in their cabs... (Reading Eagle: Ben Hasty
Tractor-trailers, like these at the Frystown All American Plaza truck stop in Bethel Township, can sometimes pay for a service while parked that provides electricity, cable TV and the Internet)

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Oct 14, 2008

CUT DIESEL IDLING * USA - Money available to encourage projects that do it

Arlington,TX,USA -The Fort Worth Star Telegram (Fort Worth,TX), by BRYON OKADA -Oct. 13, 2008: -- Diesel idling — truck drivers’ idling their engines to keep cab air conditioners running while they are resting or waiting to load or unload cargo — is often a simple fact of trucking in Texas, with its frequently unfriendly temperatures... A new regional diesel-idling program intends to reduce emissions by reducing the idling — and there’s federal money to be had for those with the best ideas... To that end, the Regional Transportation Council is looking for the first time at funding area projects specifically designed to cut down on diesel idling. Projects can be either on-board devices or on-site solutions like electrified parking spaces. It can also be other innovative projects — something nobody has thought up yet... Trucks are an obvious focus for the program, but not the only one... (Photo by S-T/Ron Jenkins: Heat forces trucks, such as these at a truck stop at Alliance Gateway, to spend time idling)

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May 15, 2008

Truck Idling Reduction * USA - Wisconsin grants almost $250,000 to OOIDA members for APUs

WIS,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -May 14, 2008: -- The Wisconsin Department of Commerce recently announced the recipients of its $2 million Diesel Truck Idling Reduction Grant Program, and many OOIDA members were on the list... Of the $2 million $785,228 went to four large carriers, including $290,801 for 74 units at Marten Transport in Mondovi; $251,355 for 88 units for Roehl Transport of Marshfield; $126,701 for 63 units at Schneider National of Green Bay; and $116,370 for 29 units at Ashley Distribution Services of Arcadia... The Wisconsin Department of Commerce will begin accepting applications for the 2008 APU grant program on July 1...

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Feb 15, 2008

REDUCE IDLING * USA - Pennsylvania Senate OKs bill to

PEN.USA -Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble -February 13, 2008: -- A bill that is intended to reduce unnecessary idling of large trucks throughout Pennsylvania is halfway through the statehouse. In most instances, drivers idling their trucks while sleeping or resting would be exempt from the rule... Idling rules already are in place in Allegheny County and the city of Philadelphia... The Senate unanimously approved a bill that would put in place idling limits statewide. Diesel-powered commercial vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds would be limited to idling for no more than five minutes per hour...

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Oct 19, 2007

Idling Reduction * USA - Regulation approved for public comment in Pennsylvania

Harrisburg,PA,USA -The Trucker News Services -19 Oct 2007: -- A new regulation approved for public comment Oct. 16 by the Environmental Quality Board will help clean Pennsylvania's air and save trucking companies millions of dollars in diesel fuel... The regulation, developed by the Department of Environmental Protection after it was petitioned by the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania, would limit the amount of time a diesel-powered commercial motor vehicle can idle its engine to no more than five minutes in a 60-minute period... (Photo from: http://www.ornl.gov/ - Emissions and fuel use during truck idling are being studied)

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Aug 25, 2007

Idling * Canada - An Exhaustingly Bad Habit

Idling for five minutes a day in a small car will burn 38 liters of gas a year and release 88 kilograms of carbon dioxide (twice as much in a large car.) For every thousand small and large cars that idle for five minutes a day, that’s 132 tonnes!

Toronto,ON,Canada -Natural Life -25 Aug 2007: -- A recent study suggests that in the peak of winter, Canadians voluntarily idle their vehicles for a combined total of more than 75 million minutes a day – equivalent to one vehicle idling for 144 years... According to Natural Resources Canada, for every liter of gasoline used, the average car produces about 2.4 kilos of carbon dioxide. If every driver of a light duty vehicle avoided idling by five minutes a day, collectively over the year, we would save 680 million liters of fuel and over 1.6 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions... Diesel vehicles, on the other hand, do require a few minutes to warm up before being driven. Fortunately, there are available a variety of anti-idling devices designed to reduce the need for idling to warm up the engine, cool the vehicle or run auxiliary equipment when stopped... Diesel trucks create a particular problem, especially the hundreds of thousands of heavy duty, long-haul trucks with sleeper cabs that crisscross the continent. The drivers of these trucks are required to take safety rest periods at truck stops or rest areas every day. Most truck drivers leave their engines running during these rest periods to provide power for heat, air conditioning, refrigeration and other systems. This engine idling burns nearly a billion gallons of diesel a year in the U.S. alone, emitting an estimated 20 tons of air pollution and greenhouse gases... In order to reduce this sort of truck idling, systems have been developed to provide alternative power. One such technology is called Truck Electrified Parking (TEP.) TEP provides grid-supplied electrical power through electrical outlets mounted on pedestals at truck stop and rest area parking spaces. Truckers need to install 120-volt appliances or converters, but the cost works out to less than the cost of burning diesel fuel. The system has been tested in New York State and became operational along transportation corridors in Washington and Oregon just this past summer... (Photo by eere.energy.gov: A truck stop electrification unit)

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Jul 21, 2007

TRUCKS IDLE * USA - Gentlemen, stop your engines

The days when heavy trucks idle away the evening at truck stops and freight yards may be numbered. States and municipalities are cracking down on the practice

USA -DC Velocity, by Peter Bradley -16 July 2007: -- Old habits can be hard to break. But if it's a habit of idling a truck engine for hours on end, drivers might not have much choice in the matter. States and municipalities nationwide are cracking down on the practice, adopting new antiidling regulations (20 states now have restrictions) and stepping up enforcement of existing rules. These are no idle threats: Flout the regulations, and you risk a hefty fine...

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Jun 25, 2007

Idle Emissions * USA - TTI and EPA Launch Web Site to Reduce They

Washington,DC,USA -TruckingInfo -25 June 2007: -- Researchers with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) have finished the first phase of a three-year project for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designed to help reduce the estimated 500 tons of nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere each day by idling trucks... It is estimated that these idling trucks waste 300,000 gallons of fuel every day. The TTI project resulted in a nationwide deployment strategy for truckstop electrification (TSE) and a user-friendly web tool that pinpoints ideal locations for this technology... Until recently, truckers had no option but to keep their diesel engines idling in order to power their onboard air conditioners, heaters, televisions and microwaves. Starting a few years ago, some truckstops across the country installed idle reduction technology equipment, which allows the drivers to turn off their engines and "plug-in" to the outside power supply...

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Jun 9, 2007

HEY... REIMBURSEMENT !!! * USA - New Jersey truckers can claim $17,000 in free idling reduction money

Lack of participation frustrates Gail Toth: “This would be embarrassing if I can’t give away the money”

NJ,USA -Land Line Magazine -8 June 2007: -- ... Beginning this spring, certain New Jersey-based truckers are eligible to receive up to $17,000 each in reimbursements for auxiliary power units and other emission reduction technology... As of mid-June, however, less than 20 percent of the state’s $650,000 grant fund had been claimed and only $50,000 had actually been issued. Gail Toth, executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, told: “I thought it would be a lot easier to give it away”... The program – dubbed New Jersey Trucker’s Challenge – allows drivers and fleet owners to obtain 50-percent reimbursement for an APU up to $3,500...

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