Will truckers freeze to death with new anti-idling laws?
Jul
There’s growing discontent amongst truckers who are complaining that anti-idling laws are not only a huge inconvenience but also putting lives at risk, and not just driver’s lives either. If truckers can’t regulate the temperature in the cab by keeping the engine idling, some say this will potentially result in drivers freezing to death in their sleep or sleep-deprived drivers on the road, threatening the lives of other motorists.
Are these claims simply scare-mongering by truck drivers? Are the state trucking regulations forgetting commonsense and putting environmentalists ahead of people’s lives?
Before we discuss the reasons for truckers getting angry about these so-called ‘asinine’ trucking regulations, let’s look at why states in increasing numbers are banning excessive truck idling.
Why regulate against idling?
As global warming and climate change become hot (no pun intended) topics in political circles and there is growing pressure from the public, legislators are constantly looking for ways to reign in the huge amounts of carbon we pump into the atmosphere every year.
This is reflected in emissions trading schemes, carbon trading and the Kyoto Protocol, all of which are aimed at forcing businesses to be accountable for the amount of carbon they were releasing into the atmosphere. Over 75% of this is attributable to the burning of fossil fuels, such as diesel. This has made fleets, particularly trucking fleets, an easy target for governments wanting to be seen to be doing the right thing.
In addition to environmental reasons, some fleet owners are also recognizing the cost-savings of monitoring and managing fuel usage more closely. As fuel prices continue to rise, and oil reserves are being depleted, smart fleet owners have seen the writing on the wall and are doing what they can to reduce their dependency on the stuff they call ‘black gold’.
How can fleet managers manage idling?
Like speeding tickets, violating anti-idling laws can be costly for a fleet, or driver, if the agreement is drivers pay their own fines.
Fleet managers can use fleet management software to monitor vehicles that are idled excessively. For example, Telogis® Fleet™ can be setup to record any incidences of vehicles idled for an excessive period of time and managers can be alerted, so it can be managed proactively.
The idling alerts (similar to speeding alerts) can be customized by fleet managers to only record and report under certain conditions, which filters the real-time reports to only show events that need a manager’s attention. This is particularly useful when managing large fleets, covering thousands of vehicles or trucks.
Adopting a proactive approach to the problem is a much better option than waiting for a run-in with the authorities or hefty fines (or even imprisonment in some states).
Is it really that bad?
Are the anti-idling laws really that bad? On the surface they may seem unfeeling to the truckers who spend a lot of time in the cab, but when you actually look at the rules around how these regulations are enforced you start to see there are a lot of exemptions. You can read up about the specific laws and exemptions for each state, but essentially it allows for things such as adverse weather, traffic conditions, rest stops or running auxiliary equipment to exempt truckers from the anti-idling regulations.
It appears the main issue revolves around not being able to maintain the cab at a comfortable temperature, and that’s a fair enough complaint when you spend as many hours as drivers do inside one. But idling a truck’s main engine is not the only way to heat or cool the cab. Several companies supply and install air conditioning or heating units that run on batteries or a pony motor to save fuel, reduce noise and stay compliant with anti-idling laws.
Of course, there may be issues with who is going to pay for the truck to be upgraded and for lone contractors it could be an expense they are desperately trying to avoid. Unfortunately the cost of compliance is simply the cost of doing business in our modern, perhaps over-regulated, society. And it beats having to pay a $25,000 fine if you caught doing it in Virginia!
November 17th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
I have been around the trucking industry since I was born. My dad was a driver and my husband was a driver. I spent a lot of time with both over the road so I know what I saw then and now.
The problem first with the anti-idling with the exemptions is that while most would say the drivers want to idle for their own comfort, but at 80 degrees outside it is around a 100 or higher in the vehicle. That means that the driver could potentially face death but you can definitely count on that driver not being fully rested because they were “uncomfortable”
Another problem that really gets me angry is that the trucking companies claim they have AC units and heating units that run on battery but most don’t tell you that the truck has to be started every hour or so to maintain the batteries. This again leads to a driver not being fully rested.
These OTR drivers are living in their trucks on average 260 days per year or more. The diesel they are burning is cleaner than it ever was in years past. Legislators could learn a lot just by sitting down with current drivers and asking their input instead of just keeling down to the demands of environmentalists and home bodies that no nothing about trucking.
“Walk a mile in their shoes” or should I say “drive”. The law requires the driver shut down for 10 hours after 11 hours of driving. When any non-trucker goes home from working a hard day, do they have to worry about sweating to death or freezing to death in their homes because they are running their heat or air for too long? No!
Legislators should require that the driver be able to sleep a full 8 hours uninterrupted by low battery or other issues that should fall on the trucking companies shoulders. Why should a driver have to get up every hour because the battery alert alarm goes off? Interrupted sleep is just as bad as no sleep. Does any motorist want to be around a semi truck with a driver driving that may or may not be rested? I know I don’t.
Only part of the story is being focused on here and that isn’t the part of the drivers.
December 9th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
MiniSplits are the nearly all Energery Efficent warming up along with soothing source
September 9th, 2011 at 10:17 am
The title of your article is “Will truckers freeze to death with new anti-idling laws?” While many states have exemptions regarding idling based on the temperature, some exemptions may be considered unreasonable.
I refer you to the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI’s) Compendium of Idling Regulations (which is updated about once a quarter):
http://www.atri-online.org/research/idling/ATRI_Idling_Cab_Card.pdf
You can scroll down and look at the exemptions for each jurisdiction in the right hand column.
In some cases, the exemptions are extremely narrow or non-existent. Let’s look at two cases (as of July 2011) in the northeastern USA (where it can get mighty cold in the winter):
* Connecticut (CT):
Maximum idle time: 3 minutes
One exemption: Less than 20°F
* New Hamphshire (NH):
Maximum idle time:
5 minutes if greater than 32°F
(15 Minutes: 32°F to -10°F;
No limit: less than -10°F)
Can you imagine having to live in your house without heat until the temperature drops to less than 20°F (twelve degrees below freezing), and then turning the heat on for only 3 minutes?
Alternatively, there are states that have reasonable anti-idling temperature restrictions, one of which is:
* South Carolina (SC)
Maximum idle time: 10 minutes in any 1 hour period
One exemption: Sleeper berth a/c or heat during (a) rest or sleep periods; (b) 80 º F; or (c) at rest areas, terminals, truck stops, or legal parking locations >500′ from homes or schools
Battery-operated heating and cooling devices will work only as long as there is a charge in the truck’s bank of batteries (which may have been expanded at the time of installation of the device). The hotter or the colder it is, the more the device may draw off the batteries, shortening the period of comfort. To our knowledge, no state provides an exemption for idling to recharge batteries.
While they are becoming more popular, many trucking companies do not install diesel-powered auxiliary power units (APUs) in their trucks. APUs draw very little fuel each hour (much less than idling) for the purpose of climate control and (in all cases we’re familiar with) electrification.
My husband and I go into more detail about idling, anti-idling and human thermoregulation (particularly in a hot truck) on our website:
http://www.truck-drivers-money-saving-tips.com/
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide feedback.