Is this true that in the USA/Canada you have to run the engine when you park up to keep cool or to keep warm depending on the season, do you not have roof air con pods on top of the cab.
How much does it cost in waste of fuel for the boss, plus the enviroment and air pollution, so you have two sets of keys to leave it running while you grab a meal or a coffee break?
In some parts of Europe we can get 40 to 45 degrees in the summer,think folks complained about the noise when trucks were close to residential areas, i have heard you can be fined if you leave the engine running in some parts of Europe.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t run the engine all night and day during very hot or winter weather, our trucks would just freeze up if we didn’t run them in harsh winters, some companies are now fitting APU’s for power so the engines can be turned off and it’s illegal in most states to idle for more than 5 minutes but I have not met any cop yet that has issued a ticket for running your engine when it’s freezing and you are in your cab, they will however give you a ticket if you leave it running and go off somewhere. Lots of truck stops have ‘Idleaire’ which hooks up to the truck and provindes heat, A/C, satelite TV and internet but t costs $2.50 an hour so there’s no way most drivers can pay that all night. When I park my truck at my house I hook it up to the mains to keep the engine block warm and circulate warm water.
If I am out all week during winter or the hot summers my engine runs constantly.
There are two main types of APU (Auxillary Power Unit) in simple terms, one is a donkey engine, the other is just a big set of batteries in a box 
They’re about $20,000 installed, they need servicing regularly and the donkey engine ones use diesel as well, so they’re nowhere near being a must have, if you were keeping the truck indefinitely then it would be a good idea, but still a bit of an indulgence as payback on the investment would take a long time 
You don’t have to shut it down in silly cold weather but it helps if you keep it running and that’s just here in old blighty let alone North America.
But if you really absolutely want to shut it down over there in - zillions degrees C in order to reduce your carbon footprint it’s probably best to inform the guvnor first so they’ll know where you are when you try to start it up again. 
The Thermo-King tripac’s we had were brilliant for air-con in the hot south but absolute ■■■■■ for cold winters in Canada.
Down to -10/-15 they were ok but anything below that, the chances are they would pack in, in the night while you’re sleeping, only to wake up freezing cold and the engine wouldn’t start.
I couldn’t count the amount of times I have had to call out a breakdown during the winter in Canada.
Apparently it was nearly always due to the fuel pipe to the Tri-pac being too small and freezing the fuel in the line.
BTW, our motors cut out after 5 mins idling.
I don’t know if this is true or not but talking to a USA driver in Ontario LA once about him idling his truck, he said if there are animals in the cab, dog/cat etc. they were legally allowed to idle, if true, says a lot about what the lawmakers think about drivers.
I’ve got the battery pack type one fitted. And a night heater but below -10 I run the engine to be safe.
Even with good battery’s it still can’t be good for the engine to crank over when the oil is like treacle.
Gets Realy cold you need the main Heater not just the night heater. You soon get used to the Idiling engine.
The story about being allowed to idle if you have a pet in the cab is BS, the law in CA says that diesel engines cannot be idled full stop, which eliminates APUs as well 
Some trucks have a decal saying smart idle or somesuch nonsense, means SFA in California though, you cannot idle there at all
However, I’ve run California and when it’s hot I run my truck for the A/C, exactly the same as everyone else does, the truckstops and yards are full of trucks idling away and nobody seems to give a toss
I got the APU type on mine and not got any complaints here been out with it down to bout -30c keeps me toasty with just a duvet just close the middle curtains I know some the boys with the battery packs i have spoken to leave the engine on idle all night. Speaking to one of the guys who run white horse leave theirs on high idle to stop them freezing up so i been told.
I have the Thermo King tripac apu with a Webasco heater. They are great when they are working properly, but it seems like every time I have apu serviced at a truck stop, I have to head to a TK shop to get a/c fixed. No telling wtf they do while changing oil at truck stops.
I do concert touring and sometimes sit for a week at a time at a venue. The apu saves idling the truck engine and saves me a *hit load in fuel. Wouldn’t be without one. Yes they are expensive running around $10-12k installed .
taffytrucker:
I got the APU type on mine and not got any complaints here been out with it down to bout -30c keeps me toasty with just a duvet just close the middle curtains I know some the boys with the battery packs i have spoken to leave the engine on idle all night. Speaking to one of the guys who run white horse leave theirs on high idle to stop them freezing up so i been told.
If Idiling you should set it to 900-1000rpm to keep the oil pressure up as it can cause damage to the engine long term
Idling makes for a poxy nights kip imho, The F86 I drive regens too which is fab when it starts revving at 12~1400 I had to idle for 7 days & nights the other trip & my idle time was still less than some that month…
My night heater packed up last month, so I’ve been using the big 15ltr APU since then and because I don’t work that hard my idle time is well over 50%, but I haven’t shivered once At 1000RPM it runs as smooth as silk too, thanks to a new crankshaft damper, so I get a lovely kip, the throbbing pulse of a big CAT is the ultimate white noise generator, I can’t even hear the reefer engine kick in 
The fitters are finishing fixing that in the morning and are also talking about sticking a programmable engine heater on my truck as I spend all winter in the frozen north now, if you’re not going to run the engine they are essential, not just for the easier starting capability, but also because of the damage a cold start does to the engine, it doesn’t take many dry starts, because the oil is like treacle and stuck in the sump, to polish the bores and ■■■■ a set of pistons and liners
Jockinusa, things are a little cheaper in the US than in Canada, a Tripack will cost nearly double up here 
Are you on Upstaging 
A good positive feed back on this post, thanks.
When i was working on the dairy farm at Laingsburg near Lansing, MI, the farmer plugged his old car in with a lead to warm the engine, he said the baby would die if they did not pre-heat the car.
Will the Uk ever get these plug in leads that you guys get when you stop overnight, no doubt they will rob us blind for the privelege of some back up like you get over there.
We get plug ins when you have a fridge trailer on the ferry, all good until a member of the ships crew turns the power off and the load of lamb is ruined.
Word of warning 
One of the owner operators on our company had an APU which he made full use of caught Legionaires from it … He died one year later 
Why does my truck as most other newish trucks have a sticker with a clearly visible image of California and Certified clean idle written on it ? … I mean if you can’t idle in CA whats the point ?
On the one time I actually entered California I ran my engine all night and never got so much as a bad look from a cop.
Why is the coffee and milk so bad in the USA, and the sweet tasting bacon too. 
They don’t sell bacon in the USA or Canada just rind and fat they call bacon
kr79:
They don’t sell bacon in the USA or Canada just rind and fat they call bacon
There is an English guy in Edmonton who makes and sells UK type bacon and sausages at markets around the Edmonton area.
From what I’ve heard the stuff is really quite good.
PM Big Jon, he knows the guy, and how to contact him.
I know he is on the Edmonton Ex-pat facebook group. (I’m not on facebook or I would look for you)
You can get any type of bacon, including Gammon, but you won’t find it in a prepack, you have to find a proper butcher and ask them to get it, but if you want meat of any kind to be decent stuff you should be going to a proper butcher anyway 
Or if you have a butcher ‘handy’
