IDLING: THE PAYOFF

THE TRUCK MAKERS

Idle reduction systems were born and reared in the aftermarket. Today, even if they are OEM-installed they generally include aftermarket components and retain their aftermarket characteristics. That is, they are still not truly integrated systems, designed from the beginning to be part of a particular truck model. Eventually, however, IR systems are expected to become standard equipment on most trucks, just as air conditioning migrated to the must-have list of accessories in years past. Will that impact the idle reduction marketplace when it happens? Probably over time.

Most truck makers already offer one or more IR systems as published options. Some are installed on the assembly line as the truck is being built while others are added at dealerships or modification facilities before delivery to the customer. The Clean Power system from Kenworth Truck Company (www.kenworth.com) and the The ComfortClass system from Peterbilt Motors (www.peterbilt.com), for example, were introduced in 2007. They each combine an aftermarket fuel-operated heater and thermal storage cooling system from Webasto with additional OEM-supplied elements, such as enhanced cab insulation, to provide customers with a CARB-approved, OEM-installed idle reduction system.

This spring, Freightliner truck customers will also have the opportunity to preview a new idle reduction system for the Freightliner Cascadia, which is scheduled to be in full production in Q4 (www.freightliner.com). The Integrated Parked HVAC System (a pre-production name) combines a fuel-operated heater from Espar Heater Systems (www.espar.com) with an AC system from Bergstrom, Inc. (www.nitesystem.com) plus additional components and cab modifications from the truck maker to create a proprietary OEM-installed idle reduction solution.

“In a typical truck today, you have an HVAC system for the cab and for the sleeper,” says Scott Burckhard, product manager with the product strategies group at Daimler Trucks North America. “If you add an idle reduction solution, you end up with three HVAC systems. Our new IR system replaces the sleeper HVAC and uses the same ducting as the truck's system. The system can run off the truck's alternator while the truck is moving and off batteries when parked. An inverter-charger is also available as an option to enable drivers to use shore power where it is available.

“Our system is CARB-certified today,” he adds. “Our customers are so fuel-efficiency conscious, that we just had to offer an idle reduction solution. CARB may have sped up the delivery schedule, but this was coming in any case. It is very realistic to say that within five years every truck will have some sort of idle reduction system. We expect to see a 50 percent market penetration in 36 months for sleeper-equipped trucks (70-in. sleepers or longer) in long haul, over-the-road operations.

“States will all mandate IR systems, but even if they did not, fleets will need to offer them to attract and retain the best drivers,” he notes. “Even day cabs will eventually all have some kind of IR system to keep drivers comfortable.” According to Burckhard, Daimler Trucks North America will also continue to offer other full-function, aftermarket APUs (as do other Class 8 truck makers) because of their ability to offer greater cooling power in extreme conditions and to power hotel loads, such as televisions, coffee makers and refrigerators.

International Truck and Engine (www.navistar.com) also has a proprietary idle reduction system waiting in the wings for the new Class 8 LoneStar model, introduced last month at the Chicago Auto Show. According to the company, the new MaxxSaver APU will also be CARB-certified.

“I think that idle reduction systems will become standard over time,” observes communications marketing manager Shane Star of Flying J, Inc. (www.fjesolutions.com), which offers the Cab Comfort System APU, “but for many more years, there will be a need for idle reduction systems in the aftermarket. That is the path of almost every technology — from the new to innovative to standard.”

Fuel-operated heaters, diesel-powered APUs and simply shutting down the truck's own diesel engine continue to be very popular idle reduction choices, and for good reason. But as battery technologies advance and pressures build to move toward zero-emission, no-carbon transportation solutions, electrical power as an idling alternative (from batteries or shore power) is rapidly gaining ground, too.

MORE POWER CHANGES

“There will probably always be a need for diesel-powered APUs,” says Louis Siegel, senior vp of marketing and strategic business development for Dometic Environmental (www.dometictruck.com), but more and more the move seems to be toward battery-based IR systems, sometimes combined with fuel-operated units for heat. Today, we can get ten hours of operation from our battery-based system. One of the things we've learned is that battery-based IR systems have to be right-sized for the job and they have to be engineered, integrated systems. You can't just go out and cobble various components together yourself and expect to get good results.

“That is why we offer three different sized systems — one with a 7,000 BTU cooling capacity, one that delivers 10,000 BTUs and one that produces 14,000 BTUs, which is not a battery-powered system. We do a lot of the 10,000 BTU units for 60- and 70-in. sleepers. Smaller sleepers, like the flattop sleepers on car carriers for instance, can usually manage with just 7,000 BTUs powered by six batteries.”

“We came to the market two-and-a-half years ago with our battery-based system,” says Reinhardt. “You can't operate a battery-based system 24/7 and that was a big push-back issue then. Now people are asking themselves if they really need 24/7 HVAC and just how much BTU output it will take to get the job done. They're trying to right-size the solution, so they want to know about total BTU capacity and how you deliver it.”

Today there are off-board as well as onboard systems for delivering electricity to parked trucks to power HVAC systems and hotel loads. In addition to advanced shore power pioneer IdleAire (www.idleaire.com) and Shorepower Technologies (www.shorepower.com), other companies are entering the marketplace with new approaches to delivering HVAC and electrical power without the need for any special onboard equipment. Two such suppliers are CabAire LLC (www.cabaire.com) and EnviroDock (www.envirodock.com).

“These new systems are right-sized to serve certain facilities,” says Joe Tario, project manager, transportation and power systems research at NYSERDA, the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (www.nyserda.org). “If you are building a new big-box retail store, or a new truck terminal or warehouse facility, for instance, it makes sense to add a few of these. We still see a future for shore power for the next decade or so. Eventually, we expect battery-based systems to be so widespread that there will be no real need for shore power.”

Tario is also enthusiastic about the development of hybrid electric truck refrigerator systems, such as the Vector 1800MT from Carrier Transicold, which uses an electric generator to power all components. “The new technology coming out of Europe is just wonderful,” he says. “Diesel has been about five dollars per gallon there for some time, so they have had a greater incentive to develop clean solutions.”