Keeping Big Rig Drivers Happy

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Text and photos by Mark Brumley

Good for truckers and the air

The additional benefits for society, IdleAire officials say, is that drivers sleep better without the vibrations from their running motors and they don’t have to breathe in as many fumes. Well-rested drivers are safer on the road.

Truck owners also save money. IdleAire’s basic service costs $1.25 an hour, whereas diesel fuel is about $2.25 a gallon. The company said a single rig could save 2,860 gallons of diesel a year by avoiding idling. If all drivers used the 272,000 IdleAire spaces available at truck stops around the country, they could save 1.7 billion gallons of fuel per year, the company estimated.

Burning less diesel helps reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, Jones said. It also improves the environment.

“What we found—we did studies and we also had independent labs come in and do studies—is that the way a smokestack cools everything after so many hours of idling you’re spewing almost pure diesel out the top of it,” Jones said. “That’s where we’re really helping, the emissions.”

IdleAire’s company literature states that a typical diesel rig that is operated the standard 306 days a year spews 55,833 pounds of pollutants annually just from idling. The emissions include carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide. Jones said tests have shown that fumes are reduced by nearly 90
percent at IdleAire sites.

“Because of what we’re doing for the environment, the government’s behind us on this thing,” Jones said. “The EPA is really big behind us.”

In March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented IdleAire with a Clean Air Excellence Award.

The EPA recently announced that it would award a $100,000 grant to help support the construction of another electrified truck stop along I-85 near Salisbury. The Mebane facility was funded out of a $1.5-million grant from the National Association of State Energy Offices to energy and environmental agencies in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Besides the environmental benefits, new IdleAire facilities also mean new jobs. The company employs local residents at its sites, which operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Mebane facility has 13 workers.

“This is a prime example of a project that boosts the economy while improving the environment, said Bill Ross, the secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment & Natural Resources. “Installing electrified parking spaces at truck stops helps conserve energy and prevent air pollution. Hopefully, we will see many more of these facilities down the road.”