CARB: Sleepers lose idling exemption

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced last month that beginning in 2008, trucks equipped with sleeper berths will no longer be exempt from the state's five-minute idling restriction for heavy-duty vehicles.

Under the sleeper-berth provision, drivers will be required to shut off their engines before the five-minute idling time has been reached.

According to CARB, sleeper-berth operators can use alternative technologies to run heating or air conditioning systems and on-board accessories, as long as they have CARB approval regarding emissions levels. The agency notes that approved technologies must have “zero or very low pollution emissions.”

The new regulation also requires that beginning with model-year 2008, all heavy-duty vehicles must be equipped with a non-programmable system that shuts down the engine after it has been idling continuously for five minutes.

The rule applies to all heavy-duty vehicles operating in California, including those with out-of-state registrations. About 180,000 heavy trucks operate in California each day, CARB estimates, of which about 25% are registered out-of-state.