As I sat down to write this article today, I had asked a few drivers for their opinion on an article about this subject. To say I was startled by the magnitude of their passion is an understatement. This has truckers more “fired up” (no pun intended) than anything I’ve yet seen in the trucking industry to date.
The proliferation of anti-idling laws is highly discombobulating to truckers all across the land. The main problem with these laws are the fact that they do NOT encourage trucking companies to install alternative forms of heating/cooling the truck but rather punish the truck driver for being human. Truckers are human beings which do require what all other humans require such as heating and cooling.
Truckers that do not get a good night’s sleep are obviously much more likely to injure or kill another motorist. Just how do these “geniuses” making these idiotic laws expect a trucker to sleep when it’s 32 degrees or when it’s 80 degrees? Ask yourself, “could I do it?” I sit here an wonder… would the person writing the ticket, writing the law or the judge enforcing this law turn off his/her heater or air
conditioner at his house? I think we know the answer to that question, eh? Of course not! It is hypocrisy at the highest levels.
Trucker regulations state that a driver must have an “un-interrupted” sleep period but at the same time some of these asinine anti-idling laws require the driver to get up every hour or so to fire up his/her truck to regulate the temp. What about you, would you like to be forced to rise every hour on the hour at your house to moderate your living conditions? What a great night of sleep you could get, eh?
Now we all must be ready to ask ourselves, “did that trucker driving past me now just try to sleep in 80 degrees & just how rested is he?” To say the very least, I doubt he’s in a good mood!
Most drivers reading this will be most disturbed in learning that these laws are NOT just popping up in the east coast but are rearing their ugly head all over the U.S. We all can empathize with a driver who gets a $25,000 ticket for trying to stay warm in Connecticut in 10 degree temps. Please read the chart below for a better understanding of these laws as we know them today. I have added my comments to some of them to point out the absurdity…
| The Trucker’s Report ™ is reviewing it’s options as it pertains to these laws. If you are a trucker who has received one of these tickets in ANY state you may send us a copy of the ticket for our review and it MAY be possible to start a few class action lawsuits against these states. IF you do send us a copy you MUST be willing to participate in a possible class action or do NOT waste your time sending it. PLEASE remember to black out ANY sensitive information such as your social security number before you send to us! We are NOT responsible for this information if you send it. It will be kept private and confidential. You may copy the ticket or other forms and send them to: UPDATE… I was recently contacted by the EPA. They are asking for our help on this issue, LEARN MORE My REPLY To The EPA |
Drivers, to all of you who complain and yet refuse to put your money where your mouth is you deserve this treatment. These people rely on you doing just what you are doing now… NOTHING. Do NOT send me complaints about this system unless you put your money where your mouth is and at least try to do something about it. You have kept the smiles on those faces screwing you by your own indifference.
ANTI-IDLING LAWS AND PENALTIES
| IDLING LIMITS | PENALTIES | |
| 1 | Arizona (Maricopa County) 5 minutes; 60-90 minutes when hotter than 75 degrees Dear Genius: Tis mighty nice of you to allow us 90 minutes to be human at least! |
First violation, $100; second and subsequent violation, $200 |
| 2 | Atlanta 15 minutes Dear Genius: 15 Min. in the city that gets so hot it could melt the paint off your truck? So kind! |
$500 minimum |
| 3 | California 5 minutes Dear Genius: What about when it’s 125 deg in Barstow? Use your brains, goofy! |
$100 minimum |
| 4 | Connecticut 3 minutes Dear Genius: Wow! I guess you jokers will be selling a new product this winter, icicle trucker pops? |
Up to $25,000 (FLAT IDIOTIC) |
| 5 | Denver 10 minutes per hour Dear Genius: It takes 10 min JUST to warm a truck up, you rocket scientist! A year in prison? Well I guess we’d stay warm then & even have cable! |
$999 maximum and/or one year imprisonment |
| 6 | Hawaii 3 minutes Dear Genius: Asinine! |
$25 to $2,500 per day |
| 7 | Illinois Driver must be present if idling Dear Genius: How will you know we are in the truck? Knock on the door and wake us up? What a great way to develop a good sleep pattern. Watch out, grandma… |
$500 maximum |
| 8 | Las Vegas/Clark County 15 minutes Dear Genius: So much for spending money in your casinos. You could sell us as roasted turkeys for dinner though! |
$10,000 maximum (gives new meaning to the word “gamble”) |
| 9 | Maryland 5 minutes Dear Genius: Can we say DUH? |
$500 maximum |
| 10 | Massachusetts 5 minutes Dear Genius: Well, this is from a state who has elected a Ted Kenedy to the Senate for many years so what can we expect? |
Police: first violation, $100; second and subsequent violation, $500. State DEP: $1,000 to $25,000 per day |
| 11 | Minnesota (City of Owatonna) 15 minutes; five hours in residential areas Dear Genius: Brrrrrrrrr |
$1,000 maximum and/or 90 days imprisonment |
| 12 | Minnesota (City of St. Cloud) 5 minutes on West St. Germain Street from 8th to 10th avenues Dear Genius: Phew, just go down the block a bit, drivers. |
$200 maximum |
| 13 | Nevada 15 minutes
Dear Genius: |
First violation, $100 to $500; second violation, $500 to $1,000; third violation, $1,000 to $1,500; fourth violation within three years, $1,500 to $2,500 |
| 14 | New Hampshire 5 minutes if over 32 degrees; 15 minutes if below 32 degrees Dear Genius: Throw that “live free or die” crap out the window… |
To be determined |
| 15 | New Jersey 3 minutes Dear Genius: Good, I get to take a loan out for their turnpike AND just add a wee bit more to the pot. |
First violation, $200; second violation, $400; third violation, $1,000; fourth violation, $3,000 |
| 16 | New York State 5 minutes Dear Genius: I guess that FOOT of snow will insulate of a little… |
First violation, $375 to $15,000; second and subsequent violations, $22,500 maximum |
| 17 | New York City 3 minutes
Dear Genius: |
First violation, $50 to $500 and/or 20 days imprisonment; second violation, $100 to $1,000 and/or 30 days imprisonment; third and subsequent violations, $400 to $5,000 and/or four months imprisonment |
| 18 | Philadelphia 2 minutes Dear Genius: Not much brotherly love here… |
$300 |
| 19 | Reno/Washoe County 15 minutes Dear Genius: Let the game begin… |
First violation, $250 maximum; second and subsequent violations, $200 to $500 |
| 20 | Salt Lake City/County 15 minutes
Dear Genius: |
First violation, $1,000 and/or six months imprisonment maximum; second and subsequent violations, $2,500 and one year imprisonment |
| 21 | St. Louis 10 minutes Dear Genius: The gateway from humanity to inhumanity… |
Up to $500 and/or 90 days imprisonment |
| 22 | Texas (Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery and Waller counties) 5 minutes, April to October Dear Genius: Well there, cowboys & cowgirls let’s have a shit-kicking good time! |
To be determined |
| 23 | Utah Driver must be present if idling Dear Genius: How do you propose to know we are in the truck? Will you make us a sign to put in our windows? Hitler would be proud! |
$750 and/or 90 days imprisonment |
| 24 | Virginia 10 minutes in commercial and residential areas Dear Genius: George Washington should be tossing over about now. Aspire to the heavens didn’t mean exhaust fumes, I guess. |
$25,000 maximum |
| 25 | Washington D.C. 3 minutes; 5 minutes if below 32 degrees Dear Genius: The new Rome. Caesar could only DREAM of such ABSOLUTE power over his brethren. Reality be damned. Chart Source: Overdrive Magazine |
$500; doubles for each subsequent violation |
I got a $350 ticket in NY last month!! after 2 lawyers saying I may as well pay it I called my friend who does divorce law and he checked into it and told me to get my company to pay it!! I hit them up and they agreed to pay it because the idle timers are set for 5-15 min from freight liner and the law is 3 min which the company has not changed so technically its the company that was breaking the law not me!! so if you are a company driver and can’t get a lawyer to fight one of these don’t just pay it hassle your company!! who knows maybe after they get enough tickets some ones going to get pissed and do something about it!!
does anyone know how strictly these laws are enforced? sometimes theres a bit of leeway with new legislation while common sense issues get sorted out (heres hoping!)
what are the alternatives – on board generators?
Never got a ticket. Yet. Was asked by a new jersey to shut it off or follow him to a spot down the street were i could. Idle and they would leave me alone. Nice. Cop
Well I tell you I idle the hell out of my truck no matter where I am and have never got a ticket I been to almost every truckstops in the country and there are hundreds of trucks that idle at them so I say to hell with it I’m not burning up or freezing to death and have to get up and drive all day or night afterwards
@jas in quartzite AZ this year there was a police officer who was driving through the truckstops there taking down truck numbers and license plates he’d wait 45 minutes, come back and whoever was still idling he issue a ticket. So at least in Arizona they enforce it! And yes the alternative is installing an APU on these tricks. But we all know how cheap companies can be. If you want your company to start putting APUs on your trucks just get several hospitalizable heat strokes chances are they’ll put an APU on at least your truck. My buddy works for Gordon as a day can driver, and he reports that Gordon puts APUs on all their OTR trucks. For owner/ops spending 10500$ OS a smart investment especially if you run through the south half of the 48. But not every owner/op has 10-11k saved for an APU let alone can afford to put one on or finance an APU. Not all companies will pay for your tickets unless its something pertaining to their upkeep of the vehicle. Like idling for instance. If you want to get something done, write your state legislature and law makers and see about getting an APU law enacted. Im an Arizona native. I can handle the cold, but the heat, not when its 90 degrees at the coldest part of the night. And you HAVE to idle to get sleep. A lit of these trucks have bunk heaters so there is no action required bit making sure they work. The webasto diesel bunk heaters work awesome, the new 2012 Pete and freightliners inductance bunk heaters, same principal as a toaster, consume wayyyyyyy to much electricity to run all night and you usually get up every hour to idle and charge your batteries. When I go owner op and i have to pay for my own fuel, I’m saving 11k and installing an APU. No questions about it, i live in AZ and deliver a lot more in CA AZ CO OR NM TX ID, now Oregon and Idaho are not generally hot states but when its a perfect 72 degrees outside it hits even hotter in your truck even with breezeways in. 60 degrees is about the area where you don’t have to do anything, no idling no bunk heat no Ac, you just chill, or so ive noticed, I work for may trucking in case you wanted to know
The funny thing is cops are the worst people for sitting for hours on end in there patrol car idling there car along side the road to stay warm or cool and I know this for a fact because I use to be a deputy sheriff and did it every day all day and so does every type of law enforcement. But yet that asshole cop wrote down license numbers went and sat somewhere for 45 minutes idling his patrol car waiting to come back and write tickets for exactly what he was just doing. And asking me I thing that lazy ass could use his time for some real law breakers mugging and shooting people instead of us bad truck drivers trying to stay warm or cold. There you go though a cop above the law with his double standards. And it’s funny with all the clean air acts semis have to pass to even be on the road a semi idling compared to a cop car the semi probably puts out less exhaust gasses. These cops giving tickets need to put themselves in our shoes for one day when your in Arizona and it’s a 110 degrees out and you need to sleep in your own pool of sweat get no sleep then go try and drive another 11 hours, it’s a bunch of crap.
I’m reading on the government website it says exemptions, you can idle on your mandated dot rest period
So here’s the funny part about the whole thing check this out drivers will not stand up for their rights you know that I live in my truck literally I live in my truck I am in my truck 2 to 3 months at a time But these cities wanna give people tickets for basically heating their homes truck drivers live in their trucks If every truck driver across the United States would stop moving fright for one week and if some big fancy attorney submitted it to Congress telling them that the truck drivers or go to stop moving freight for 1 week yes I would heart our pocket books but at the same time I would stop driver for a month if I had to to get rid of these Stupid laws that make no sense They would do something about these walls the US people could not live with out their merchandise especially say for instance of this happened during Christmas time if all truck drivers told Congress that we’re not gonna move freight that we will not ship the freight that we will stay home during the whole Christmas season from say December 1st all the way till the end of Christmas what can they do a are aconomy would tank because there is no Christmas sales because there is no items to sell and the stores I mean I’m just sayin yes I’m sure it would be miserable for the kids as well but they don’t mind make an awesome as a row they want to make these laws that are just complete and utter bull Krapp
Have a little Espar heater in my sleeper, uses much less fuel than idling – the only problem so far is that the thermostat is near the wall so it believes the truck is cooler than it actually is, but once I turned it down enough the true temperature in the sleeper is just fine, at the push of a button! Off the top of my head it appears the cost of running this little heater is about 30 cents an hour compared to $3.00 an hour to have the truck idling so a company that thinks it’s not worth the cost of installation is pretty short-sighted.
Just for argument’s sake… how long is that Highway Patrol car allowed to idle when sitting on the side of the highway looking for their next victim (I mean violation)!
You will find out that the laws only require diesel vehicles over a certain gross weight follow these laws.
If every truck driver boycotted every anti trucker state, the government would be forced to eliminate all the law by the end of the week. This is DISCRIMINATION! So are the lane restrictions. I pay more in taxes than any four wheeler or cop on the road. The left lane should be the trucks only express lane, if anything at all. Let the unexperienced automobile drivers with class D licensing drive 55mph. And trucks do 70. Boycott the discriminatory states. To heck with them all…. The cops are exempted, of course. Let’s all just set a shut it down date and park every one. …. for a week. …
I concur we should most definitely do this during Christmas
I am going to beat the system by buying a one man tent, and place it on my mattress and buy a direct 12, 24 ect..battery hook up or mabye a cigerette lighter one and put in my tent. Think it would work?
How about just getting a room for a good nights sleep and sending the bill to your trucking company and make them pay for it. Contacting politicians is hit or miss but can’t hurt if enough voices get through. I personally would refuse to haul any freight if I am treated like a zoo animal instead of a human being. If enough truckers take a stand something will have to be done.
If u have an animal the laws says u can idle
Can you elaborate a bit more on why or how the laws don’t count if you have an animal. I have a cat and a min pin dog that take turns going with me when I go otr for two weeks.
Lol animals have more rites than truckers, I have seen it all now.
If they have a lic plate take that number and send fine to the registered owners and make the fines much larger , that will get the APU installed. Any company that gets a 10k fine for 1 truck or 50k fine for 5 trucks will install the systems. And add on to it that the fine will go away with proof of install.
I heard that in NY, Police were writing tickets for APU engines idling too.
A NY- Bear once wrote a ticket in 1998 for my ’81’ Rabbit diesel making Too much black smoke while my Nephew was climbing a hill.
If I get a ticket for my Apu, I will give the cop a reason to write something because I will beat him like a red headed stepchild. My company has Apu on all of our trucks. We don’t idle.
Our biggest problem is that truckers cannot get together a couple of serious strikes would wake them up…!
The system is as crooked as being hipocret after big corporations pollute and make millions now they worried about our enviorement so pretty much they destroy nature for big bucks now they enforce epa regulations on us poor hard working class and make big bucks again I payed fines for idling nonsense dot rules that dont make sense I put food at my table anyway I can and when I part this word let my last words to my family tha I love them and to the politicians and other agencies ect kiss my ass
This should concern everyone. We now get 10 hr sleeper so we might sleep 8 hours. Customers and DOT say don’t idle truck. It’s 95 shreds outside truck and 125 degrees inside. Does a trucker have to die of heat stroke or kill someone due to heat exhaustion before this law is changed?
I own a trucking company, but one thing that gets me is the sitting time at shippers and delivery locations. Did you know nearly 50 percent of my loads force me to sit and idle for 3 to 8 hours? That is a lot of carbon and a lot of wasted diesel, and I do not haul refrigerated trailers either because they sit two to three more hours, and they have an extra tank and reefer units wasting and polluting. This is not the trucker/carrier’s fault… it is the companies that are loading and unloading. They grossly under staff their warehouses and other locations. As I am typing this, I am sitting and it has been over six hours, and yesterday I sat for 10 to be loaded. I would think organizations like yours would lean on the EPA and the DOT to regulate this. It is extremely wasteful, and this is also a safety issue. As the Hours of Service are decreased more and more for Drivers, and they are forced to use almost all their on-duty time sitting, that is why they cheat their logs to make their delivery(s) on time… otherwise they will not make that 2500.00 monthly truck note and the 1000.00 monthly insurance note. This is why they can barely afford new tires, they are forced to choose between sleep and money. Please understand, I am not referring to the large companies like Swift, JB Hunt, etc…, they have tens of thousands of trucks and trailers, and they do a lot of drop and hook, but the large companies only account for 26 percent of the market, so if you ask them… it is not a problem, but that only covers 26 percent. What about the other 74 percent of medium, small, and one truck trucking companies? That is the other 74 percent. You cannot ask the ATA about this, because small companies like mine have nothing to do with the ATA. A simple fix would be to simply have a federal 2 hours load/unload limit or face a carbon/clean air fine. I know a lot of the shippers will say they do not allow idling, that is not the problem, do you want to sit in your car with the AC or Heater off for 6 to 10 hours ? Dogs cannot be treated as such, but truckers are, and some have died as a result of heat stroke due to some places taking their keys for their no Idling policy, and were sued so now many have layed off the no idle policy. A simply 2 hour load/unload regulation will fix it, and the bi-product is each truck will now have the time to run safely and sleep, and millions of gallons of diesel will be saved as will our air. Lastly, think of the tens of thousands of jobs that will be created now that hundreds of thousands of shippers, warehouses, and delivery points now have to hire more staff to get these truck loaded/unloaded and gone!
Paul Todd
PT Logistics
706=513=1053
Paul, this is a powerful message, can we talk
I just called the local d troop in ny, I got transfered around a few times. It seems some these individuals don’t even know what the law states about non-idling law. The only ones that know are dot officers that deal with commercial trucks.
Yes, truckers are human too, but you are completely missing the point! Your beef is with your owner or with your working conditions, not with the proliferation of anti-idling laws or law enforcement! Anti-idling laws are absolutely appropriate and necessary. In fact, enactment and enforcement of anti-idling laws is long overdue, as the science on the harmful affects of idling is abundantly clear. Idling affects our lungs, our hearts and our environment–not to mention the person sitting in the cab or car! Anti-idling laws attempt to protect everyone’s health and our environment. In New York City, for example, you are not allowed to idle for more than three minutes. Sooner or later, these restrictions will be much more strictly enforced. There is no god-given or constitutional right to idle; study after study shows that idling is deeply harmful.
Ok, so let me ask you this, Jerry. How would you like to be laying in your bed at night and have the cops pound on your door at 3 in the morning and tell you that you have to turn your a/c off? Or, better yet, try this. Come down to Phoenix in the middle of August, and sit with the windows shut and the engine off for 8 hours when it’s 115 deg outside. I know the no-idling laws are in place to improve air quality and such, and they look great on paper, but the reality is that if it was your butt in the hot-seat, no pun intended, you’d feel differently. Truckers are human beings, not machines. We are forced to sit in our trucks for hours on end waiting to be loaded or unloaded, a lot of shippers don’t have a waiting area for drivers, and force us to stay in our trucks while we are being loaded/unloaded, and refuse to let us idle our trucks for heat/a.c. It’s not an issue of comfort, it’s an issue of safety. If it’s 115 deg outside, I guarantee you, it’s at least 135 in the cab of that truck. if it’s 15 outside, it’s at least that cold inside, if not more. I won’t speak for anyone else out there, but if you think I’m willing to die to keep from offending you or anyone else with my idling truck, then why don’t you take your prius down to the warehouse and pick up your own damn freight!
Amen to that. It’s about time for someone to speak up to the tree huggers. If I didn’t have an Apu, I’d be idling as well. The only thing that bugs me about idling trucks is that many of them, especially Peterbuilt, the air dryer pops off every 5 or 10 minutes. It’s rather annoying but that’s my only complaint. We need to fight these laws because we are human beings. Idle air was installed at very few truck stops. It was a great idea but fizzled quickly because of apu’s. Plus they charge too much for a night of comfort and there is not enough truck parking.
That’s exactly right! Let’s let them drive their own personal vehicles to shippers to pick up their own goods!
Come out on the road and let’s see if you can change your mind fast like the rest of us. Also try talking to these cheap Azz companies about APUs. Your not a driver and don’t have a clue what we have to go through to deliver the very products that you use in your human life everyday. Trucks deliver it all, learn that if we’re to get together and stop driving for not even a week, the country would go down fast
Reminds me of when my dad drove for JB Hunt in the 90’s. They had obc to monitor the truck. They told him, you idle too much. He asked do you have heat and a/c at home. Terminal manager said yes. He said good, the truck is my home, when it’s or cold out, I will be comfortable which means I will idle. Or put me in a hotel.
Jerry? You need to get a serious reality check buddy. We are humans, and should have the same rights as everyone else. These rights are, among other things, the right to LIFE. With the new idle law we are discriminated against by the sheer fact of the work we do. This is why many of us will not take loads to the north east, they spent almost 200 years dumping crap into the water and air, now we are expected to make it right for them, which is unreasonable. Why can we not have our rigs tested as to exhaust %’s and go from there? In California they found out that the worst area of pollution was the i10 corridor through LA. From Ontario west it seems that the pollution was from 1 1/2 ft from the ground up to 5 ft. Seems to me that it’s the autos down that low, because exhaust RISES, and damn few of us have under stacks. Now take a look at the LOCAL haulers, sending out smoke like they’re burning straight oil. Take a moment Jerry and think about it. Just saying.
Its just not the “LAWS”, its the companies too! As I sit, its cold. So cold in my truck that my toes are froze. My company has programmed the idle on THEIR company truck so I can’t keep warm. There is a small vent towards the floor called bunk heater. Unless I sit on the floor infront of it, I get cold. It only uses heat.
Illegal to leave a dog in shot car, but not a driver?
(I’m in the UK so i can’t really comment on the law changes discussed here, that said…)
I sympathise with the truckers. I really do. Trying to sleep while too cold, or too hot, is no fun at all, i dimly remember family holidays with a dad who believed charging the leisure battery in the motorhome used extra fuel. No heating for us, pure misery in winter.
I’ve slept in a sleeper cab a couple of times too (long story) and climate control is a nightmare.
However, right now there is a truck idling outside my house, he ran the engine until 3:30 am. At 6:30 am he started it back up. I’m about ready to go beat the engine with my rolling pin.
*sigh*
No-win situation.
Better still, let’s solve a multitude of issues globally! We can all park our rigs at comfortable locations for us, and all of the unemployed welfare sucking turds can meet us there and hand carry the goods to their delivery locations. ~Poof~ ozone is cured, everyone is employed, welfare vanishes, and I will finally have time to hunt down that elusive unicorn that keeps goring my dog when I am on the road. Next Up? Replacing the personal vehice with rickshaw operators, and shovels with 3 inch plastic spoons…solving transportation and construction conumdrums.
Winter time I refuse all loads north of I-10.
Don’t forget, CA even puts restrictions on your APU depending on where you’re parked. Guess I could go solar on the trailer roof, but that means no runs up north. Ho hum, yankees.
I think the best way to convince a company to install cpu’s on all of their trucks is to convince the states to revoke or refuse to renew any company permits until all trucks that may enter the state from said company has a cpu installed. Kill two birds with one stone. Either the company installs the cpu or you never have to worry about trying to get any sleep in a liberal state. I cant speak for those counties in Texas but the rest of the state isnt so so stupid.
Would it be better if a local government required the new truck stops to include electrification for each truck parking space? That way any truck pulling in would be able to shut-down.
Great idea. About as smart as shore power for reefer’s. Problem is drivers will forget to unhook before taking off. They will rip the cords out. Plus where do you plug it in. My truck has no plug in, not even a block heater.
My truck does. It has two plugs and can be plugged into a 120v outlet.
I work for a small company and we were renting Ryder sleeper cabs and we were lucky if I could even keep them running long enough much less keep temperatures. Luckly we just got a news truck and I convinced the owner to get a GREEN APU. It is a great unit and cost 8,500 dollars installed. Worth every penny. All these anti idle laws are criminal. Let me put it this way. Us trucks can’t idle but you can be sweating or freezing in your truck and have a 4 wheeler right next to you idling all night long. If you start your truck you get the ticket and nothing for the 4 wheeler. If they make laws concerning idling include all vehicles and see if it passes.
Another point, what do you think the ratio of trucks verses cars are on the road. I am pretty sure there are 10 times or more cars than there are trucks out there. Which really will have higher emisions out there, even with trucks idling to get some uninterupted sleep. technically if I don’t get uninterupted sleep I am not supposed to even start my truck. WILL THESE PEOPLE THINK!!!!! This is all common sense. I agree take a week and stop all trucks nation wide. Then we would see how the policy changes.
Problem is people see smoke out of our stack and think, smog. Diesel’s are and have always been cleaner than gasoline powered vehicles. Its been proven in smog tests Even bore the DPF systems. Trouble is pencil pushers in their cushy office don’t see it that way.
Fact is there is NO legal right for idling. With that said and out of the way, the very real problem of idling must be addressed by America’s truckers and owners. And the Only Way To Address This Problem Is A Series Of Planned Trucker Shutdowns—————A Trucker Planned And Total Progressive Shut Downs To Get The Nations Leadership Attention, is necessary, To Resolve The IDLING ISSUSE: ie, sleep times, loading times, explaining laws between dogs-kids and truckers in vehicles, standardization or elimination of idling fines and etc.
The Trucker Planned And Progresss Total Shut Downs canbe most effective if the event were announced 14 days in advance. The Trucker IDLING CONCERNS( these concerns would be be provided to each of the following offices the day before the announment is made) would be given to STATE GOV’s, STATE and FEDERAL DOT’s and the U.S. CONGRESS ( i would expect no action at this time). On day 15 a one (1) day total national shutdown would happen. 3 days later a two (2) day total national shutdown would happen. 3 days later a three (3) day total natioal shutdown would happen. 3 days later a four (4) day . 3 days later a five (5) day . 3 days later a six (6) day and so on. CONGRESS shut the D.O.D. and other areas of the U.S. GOV down over funding issuses while in- fighting amoung themselves so let us see what they can do for a real—real time event !!!
I agree with smokey. ….I’m not a person that would do harm to this county’s economy. ..but it’s time to put a stop to the state authorities. …as a company driver, I’m harassed by the strick laws we as drivers have to obey and company owners the will not spend on a dime a APU UNIT . D.o.t and state authorities come up with such high fines…and still the want their bread, milk, fuels, car in the dealership, and frankly everything is brought by trucks. ..without trucks America stops….. the last you want here to hear on the news is another accident. Driver crash from fatigue! Because he did not have enough rest.
I’ve gone through two compressors & a fuel pump on this APU it’s a piece of crap, the truck has a 5-minute shut down on it so it’s a piece of crap too. 2 days ago I was sitting in a truck stop in New York, upstate NY. and an officer knocked on my window and asked for my drivers license and medical card and said he was going to give me a ticket for idling I told him that my truck has a 5 minutes shut down & my APU was not working. Right then my truck shut down, he gave me my license in medical card back & said have a good day! After he walked away to the next truck I started my truck again so I could get some cool air in here when it’s 80 outside it’s 120 in this truck, “You wouldn’t leave your kids in a car when its hot outside” Don’t leave your little trucker in the car (Heat) either!!
These no-idling laws are completely inhuman. I’m not one to swear (rare for a trucker, I know…) but this deserves a big, fat, loud, FU! Until/unless all trucks are equipped with alternate means of keeping the sleeper cool on hot nights, then this is all we got, you enviro-freaks! Kill truckers to save the planet? And BTW, the whole global warming thing is far from “settled science.” We don’t even know if the earth is warming, much less do we know how much man’s contribution is to it (likely a fraction of a percent). Nor do we know the results of high CO2 in the atmosphere (e.g., plants thrive on CO2 — it’s plant food). And projections of global catastrophe are continually shown to be wrong — the computer models are NOT synchronizing with reality. So, until more is known about the problem — if any — then let’s not kill truck drivers, ok?
And forget this 80F stuff — I can live with that by using a window fan blowing air through the sleeper. It’s been 100F for much of this past Summer, all across America. And Phoenix is just crazy hot, consistently over 100F, and can be 95F at midnight.
What stupid creeps came up with those idling laws? This issue needs to be publicized, and those politicians publicly humiliated.
I sympathize with these problems but try to see another point of view. i live in an apartment and there are often rigs parked 30 feet from my doorstep idling overnight. The low frequency vibration of the engine can be felt the walls of my place and its really difficult to sleep sometimes. There is a wal-mart just down the road – why do the truckers feel the need to park right behind the apartment complex next to a bunch of people who are trying to sleep? If you want to stop anti-idling laws, its not just about the environment or EPA. There are probably thousands and thousands of people who have the same problem with idling trucks disturbing their sleep.
Would you prefer a tired angry driver next to you on the interstate at 70 mph? Maybe you would prefer that tired angry driver falling asleep while approaching the red light your wife and children are sitting at. Look on the bright side while you’re in your own bed nice and cozy thinking about that idling truck outside you know that driver is getting the rest he needs to keep himself and the motoring public safe. Why not do your part and help get more parking set up for trucks and fight those anti idling laws.
Walmart for the most part won’t allow us to park. Might not be the stores specifically as a lot of them say it’s city ordinance. I can tell you fighting with a cop doesn’t work. They will ticket and tow. I’m sorry if you don’t like the idling trucks but we are doing a job and once we are out of hours we have to sleep. I’m first to say I will not be hot in the summer or cold in the winter. If you don’t like the idling, invite those truckers to sleep in the comfort of your apartment.
Drive one of these trucks and you will understand the job is not easy.
When people travel overnight and need to sleep they stop at a motel and sleep. They don’t sit in an idling car or pickup truck all night. Diesel exhaust is even more polluting and carcinogenic than gasoline exhaust. Why is it that truckers NEED to sleep in their rigs? Why can’t they stay in a motel? That’s part of the overhead of having a trucking business. I’m sure it’s cheaper to stay in the truck but is it fair that people living in the neighborhood where the rig is running to breathe in those carcinogenic fumes? Truckers are human beings and deserve to be warm or cool as the season dictates. But they need to be comfortable in a motel. The fee for this should be built into the trucking costs. The people living in the areas where the rigs run all night are human beings also. They don’t deserve to hear the loud noise of a diesel running all night or the polluted air from excessive diesel exhaust. I’ve lived in those neighborhoods and it’s not enjoyable.
Cars and pick ups do not have sleepers on them, probably why people don’t sleep in them, and I drive all over the country and don’t know but a few hotels/motels that have truck parking. You can’t just pull a 379 pete with a 53’ stepdeck next to the lobby entrance at a holiday inn express. And when you are about out of time on your e-log, your chances of finding a hotel are even more slim. There times when I have to go several days in a row, eating 1 decent meal (hamburger) a day. Throw that in with people driving 60 in the center lane, and a driver that sweated all night because an officer woke him up and wrote him a ticket for idling, and it’s nothing but catastrophe. Let these brilliant law makers come up with a yearly permit to idle on our rest break, and we will be just like a lot of these companies that pay for their pollution. It won’t be as big of a deal if they are getting some money out of the deal, after we already have to have a permit or sticker just to fart, what’s one more.
ATT: Simple minded drivers it is a sleep stop which means everyone should be able to sleep including the people that pay good money in the RV parks housing developments and motels. It is very disrespectful of a driver to think there is nobody sleeping outside of his or her own sleeper cab. Think before you park and idle and be respectful of those around you especially when there are truck stops less than 1000 yards away.
@joe
Why don’t you help those truckers get a parking spot in the truckstop by stopping those RV’s from parking in the truckstop. Hey here’s another idea…. Instead of complaining about the idling truck, go out there and ask that driver to come sleep in your spare bedroom so he/she won’t have to idle. Remember that driver is delivering all the things that make your life better.
You obviously don’t understand what we go through nor do you seem to care. Out on the road it’s a tough life and it’s difficult being away from home for weeks on end. I have an Apu so I don’t idle but I understand why those that don’t have one need to idle. What I suggest is contact your government officials and argue that truckers need more parking. I’ve seen several states that have closed rest areas. That’s taking parking from us. Truck stops are also lacking. Especially in the Northeast states. Everyone wants their freight but forgets us truckers are human beings and need a place to take a rest stop.
Idling when it is too cold or hot to sleep is one thing, idling when it is 60 degrees outside is completely stupid, I am a trucker and I completely agree with anti idling laws at least until you morons get your damn air dryer systems fixed, quit being cheap other drivers around you might not be able to sleep when something as loud as an M80 keeps going off every fifteen seconds. So until you deside to be considerate of the people around you I’m going to continue calling the police and reporting you.
I agree. That’s one of the things that bugs the heck out of me. When I park it to get away from those idling because of the air dryer. I run reefer and hear drivers complaining about reefer’s. My reefer turns off and on. Air dryer popping every couple of minutes wake me up and in that respect I agree with no idle. I have a solution to anti idling laws. How about the government subsidize the purchase and installation cost of Apu’s. That would take the sting out of the independent operators pockets. Also they should not subsidize the big companies because like the one I drive for, we have Apu and that would be giving a break to a company that has too much money already. I’m talking just the owner operator that are independent.
Really? And us little people who have to work for big trucking companies that cut *all* the amenities to save money aren’t included in your APU revolution? I guess I’ll just have to pony up 10 grand so I can upgrade a vehicle I don’t own so I can get a decent night’s sleep. I work the northeast, and what bugs me the most is that there are no exceptions for medical considerations. Need to power a C-pap? Have a ride-along that requires refrigerated insulin? Well then I guess your ride-along can just die when their insulin goes bad, and you get to be 11x more likely to crash.
I was told this morning by my driver manager “APUs are a luxury, not a requirement, so don’t use that excuse about not getting any sleep because of your APU! QUIT MAKING STUFF UP AND QUIT MAKING EXCUSES!”
I’d like a judge to make her and all other office employees with these ugly attitudes spend a month per extreme season with no APU.
A month on a truck per extreme season, that is. They should also have to run out their available hours in weird locations with no restroom and no legitimate parking and risk high dollar tickets. I’m very serious about this.
Theres a reason why turn over rates are over 90% for some companies.That company is one of the reasons
I am not a Trucker however my brother is and have many friends that are. My only issue is idling in a residential neighborhood, and I don’t mean if you are delivering goods. I mean you park in a driveway and leave your rig running and not even in it. My neighbor lets a guy park in his driveway and tonight I am at my wits end… the guy lives 2 streets over just inside the City limits and he rotates where he parks his rig between the 2 places. I want to call the law but at the same time he may be leaving for work at like 2 am so needs to warm up the rig although this rig has been running now for 10 hours. Dude must be able to afford his fuel… private contractor…. Non of my friends that own thier own rigs do this.
My fiancé drives a semi for grain and feed company. They will not put any kind of AC in his truck. The other guys all have AC .He gets tired and exhausted. It runs risks of heat stroke or passing out. They told him if he put in his two weeks he would be fired on spot. He has drove with engine and break problens. If he refuses they will give him less loads to do that week..starve him out of work. Is this crap legal? Im worried about him.
Don’t put in notice,quit after you start new job
I’d like to know if you have a pet in your truck can you leave your truck on idle in Massachusetts
So I definitely feel for the truckers here, and I think there should always be exceptions for the extremes in temperature, but is this allowed in front of 8 townhouses with our bedrooms facing our residential street? For some reason in the winter we get commercial trucks parking and idling for 30 min to an hour at a time, at all hours of the day and night (most recently included 7am, 12 midnight, and 4 am rounds), and they stay put for 48+ hours. Some trucks don’t bother me, but with some I wake up every time they fire up and can’t sleep while it’s on. It just perplexes me because there are a ton of open street parking spots, parking lots, etc that are very open and not in front of our bedrooms. I mean even if they pulled up the street 50 yards they would be in front of the side of an apartment instead of directly in front of bedrooms. Or down the street in front of individual houses instead of adjoined townhouses. I post here because I think I’d get a more honest opinion than some anti smog site, but how should I handle this next time it happens?
Time to file a class action suit if out Costitutioan Rights under the 1st amendment. Do you shut your domicile heat/a off every 15 minutes? Oil heat is the same fuel with no filters. Can the cops come to your house to tell you to shut your heat off. Sorry, no. Stupid laws need to be questioned & fought. The American way.
Let them hang themaelfs. Companies can’t keep new drivers ro stay as our is for very long. Just wait when the word gets out that drivers can’t have heat or air.
As the parking and restrictions mount. More and more drivers will walk away. This is why there’s a big push for teams, but after companies loose too many drivers, they will be less interested in loads to high risk areas. Only then will those states see how stupid these laws are when food and other products are getting slim and or very high cost.
Now anyone that’s been out here any length of time knows there’s always that one or two carriers who will still gobble up thar freight no matter what.
However if this continues, which I doubt, then after great driver losses, even they will have to stop to those area. And that’s about everywhere now.
So here’s my question. As President Trump puts his foot down on the EPA, some states will not comply. Drivers won’t stand together and large companies won’t stand with us.
SO HOW DO WE WIN? We beat them with State abd Federal Labor Laws. The labor rights all have sections about having a safe environment. It also staes an equal opportunity and fair pay.
This could also be a LAW SUIT agaist CALIFORNIA and other states that profile trucks on speed linit. How? You charge the county, state with discrimination based on pay.
Example: Drivers of busses, and other commercial vehicles are allowed to drive higher speeds which allows then to make more than you sice they can drive faster. That falls under wage laws.
I called the dep department in New Jersey and they said that it is perfectly legal to idle your truck if you are sleeping in it. It is illegal to idle your truck if you are not in it
This problem won’t be an issue in 10-20 years from now. That is when will see most of the large trucking companies using self driving trucks.
Will give a whole new meaning to “blue screen of death.” Who exactly will be performing the pre-trip inspections? I had a 2016 Volvo with forward facing radar, an inch of snow and some road salt over it and it was fried after a month. If any self driving truck found a safety issue (even a little glitch or a sensor going out) the truck would HAVE to be shut down on the spot. You think 95 in NYC is bad? Imagine a couple trucks parked in the road waiting on a service call. A simple bad battery can throw off a whole electrical system from having a faulty ground circuit. And if Equifax, Home Depot and Sears having data breaches gives you comfort, just remember, the same technology powers the gps guidance systems. Planes have a computer system easily 10x more powerful than any truck on the road currently and have had auto-pilot systems in place since the 80’s, yet all planes are piloted, even though they don’t have to deal with stupid 4 wheelers.
So no, treating truck drivers like machines is not the answer. The answer is maintaining a quality of life for drivers where they don’t have to get fatigued trying to make sure you have enough tp. Hos laws are a mess, if you get tired from not sleeping because it was 100+ in your truck during your break, if you take a nap later on it can destroy your 14 hour clock. So instead many drivers run what they can even if exhausted. Drop the DPF s*** so companies can invest in APUs. Want the trucks out of the neighborhood? Lets build some actual truck stops instead of bogging all of these companies down with 10 year wait lists for EPA clearance. And for the love of all things holy, I’m sick of people saying trucks need to be equipped with 10k lbs of batteries for 300 mile ranges. I guess you could always charge the massive batteries with the hot air all of these politicians put out, because they sure won’t let any more nuclear plants be built.
I think APU should be standard equipment. That would solve the problem of trucks idling. At least if they are brand new. Company I work for installs Apu at the terminal when the truck comes in from the dealer. The anti idling laws are not fair to us human truck drivers. I don’t idle as I have an apu. If I had to idle I would. Above 80 or below 32 is a load of crap. These trucks are not very well insulated and in the winter you freeze quickly with no heat. In the summer 80 degrees outside it is easily over 100 in these trucks with no AC. I also think the every hour limit is BS. Regulations require us to get at least 8 hours uninterrupted sleep. I don’t blame anyone for leaving it running all night during their break. How much sleep do they expect us to get of we have to turn the truck off and on every hour. I know I don’t want to be anywhere near the driver that had to do that for 10 hours. They talk about safety well no sleep is unsafe.
But of you idle do us drivers sleeping next to you a favor. Fix that annoying air dryer. If it’s popping every 30-45 seconds, something is wrong and it needs repairs. I’ve found this most common on Volvo’s and I try to stay as far away as I can from them.
idling a 15 liter, 500 hp engine for keeping a retarded, obese driver hot or cold makes no sense in 2018, in a civilized society like america pretends to be… the law should punish by imprisonment such retards and it should be federally prohibited.
there are alternatives out there and it is the duty of the company/owner to install them to protect the ENVIRONMENT
While we at it we can turn your gas off too , whether you know it or not is omitting just as much pollution as we are , join the club, back to the Stone Age , “ Save the Environment “
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Truck drivers are inconsiderate and not too bright. I live across street from trucking company that allows you geniuses to idle trucks all night long while i try to sleep. How bout i park outside your bedrooms at your homes and idle my vehicle all night?? SWEET DREAMS GENIUSES
Actually I sleep better with the sound so please do.
you should have never built your house next to a truck place
All you truckers, I’ve got a bone to pick with you and your idling. I drive a 40 foot diesel pusher, towing an SUV 4 down. Sometimes I stop in rest areas. I do my best to use the outside parking spot so nobody pulls up to my bedroom window and idles at all hours. Want to know why? Because as much as you gripe about needing creature comforts to be able to sleep so you aren’t a danger on the road, WE NEED TO SLEEP FOR THE SAME REASON. Truckers who insist on pulling up and stopping in a through lane should be ticketed. Idling next to the bedroom of an RV should be ticketed. You have truck stops you can park at to take breaks. Pull into a quiet area, shut your engine off.
And for the people whining about whether or not they will remember to unplug from shore power, WE FULLTIMERS DO IT ALL THE TIME. If you can’t remember something that simple, you don’t belong behind the wheel of a semi.
Your stupid little RV has its own generator to run the AC and heating system. Some trucks do not and rely on the big engine to do that job. So remove your little Onan generator, park where its 30 degrees and a foot of snow on the ground and then come and get me 10 hours later and tell me how well you slept.
I sleep in a walmart parking lot in Ohio in my Pontiac grand Am. I’ve been here for almost 8 years. The parking lot is huuuuuge. One side is more open then the other, so that’s where all the trucks park rite next to all the signs that say no overnight truck parking which I find funny. Anyways, you get 15 or more trucks idling at the same time at 3 AM when everything is quiet, YOU NEED EAR PROTECTION TO BE EVEN ON THE OTHERSIDE OF THE PARKING LOT!!!! Not to mention the smell!! So while you make good points for temperature control, how is it fair that anyone who comes remotely close to these trucks needs ear and lung protection to be safe??? Hmmmm …..how about…..ITS NOT!!! But once again, it’s just people thinking about themself.
Do you know if trucking could afford to shut down for one solid week seven days America would wake up and realize what trucking does and quit this freaking BS with idling with charging truckers at truck stops to use Internet because they cut it off when you come in if you have it and if you don’t you got a buy it I mean what the heck Loves Pilot petro are you BS people we work for you and yet you still so freaking greedy how do you think you are stand before God at the end you won’t
There should definitely be an alternate form of heating and cooling or better access to accommodations for truck drivers. I would like to say, however, that as resident who lives near an all night donut shop there is a flip side to this. We are woken up by trucks idling multiple times during the night and early morning and can’t leave our windows open at night in the summer due to the noise and concern about the soot that collects on the screens. When someone pulls up on our sidewalk and my windows start to shake I will ask them to cut the engine. The answer is always, I’m only getting a coffee, and yes the law does allow them to leave the truck running for 5 minutes. And sometimes it really is only 5 minutes. But it is truck after truck and some are quite loud. This is affecting our quality of life so much we have been looking for a new house and we put a lot into this property. I’m sharing this because I don’t think any one person wants to seriously disrupt someone’s life but collectively that is what’s happened.
Maybe instead of forcing ridiculous fines on us for being human and idling when law says we can’t, they should give incentives for installing APUs and other technology. One thing I don’t understand is how can you be nailed for idling if you have a California Clean idle certified engine. Which is ANY truck that has DEF.
Anyhow, there are several different systems out there not just Rigmaster, Thermo King Tripac and Carrier Comfort Pro. There is actually one that has 4 batteries and starts the truck when Voltage drops.
This is why I won’t work for anyone that doesn’t have APUs. I’m not paying a fine for being human. By the way 70 outside on a sunny day makes it 80 to 90 in these tin cans. Don’t say open the window. How about you shut off your AC and open the windows.
Theres a reason why turn over rates are over 90% for some companies.That company is one of the reasons