Last month we talked a little about trip planning and about the potential savings from reducing your idling time. We discussed the addition of an APU (auxiliary power unit) and we talked a little about turning off the truck when you’re out of it. This month I’d like to pick up the discussion on alternate power sources and discuss some of the other options that are currently available.
Probably the lowest cost alternative to idling your truck at night yet keep you comfortable while sleeping is to add a few more batteries, an inverter, and a shore power wiring system. The TSE (truck stop electrification) program is bringing plug in facilities to truck stops across the country.
These truck stops have facilities where, for a fee, you can plug into a receptacle to get power for your truck. This power can then be used to power A/C, heating units, charge up house batteries, etc. By using a combination of deep cycle house batteries, an inverter and a shore power system, it’s possible to keep the truck comfortable most of the time without running your engine.
While these types of systems are practical for keeping your truck cool for a few hours I didn’t find in my research a system that would work for a prolonged period (such as 10 to 12 hours) that was practical. Looking at the power consumption for cooling/heating units and comparing that to the available power from a bank of four deep cycle batteries, there just isn’t enough power available to run an A/C all night on just battery power.
That doesn’t mean that this type of system is not practical as it still can offer a reduction in your idle time for the least investment up front. Also the number of truck stops participating in the TSE program is constantly growing which makes finding a place to plug in a viable option. With a battery/inverter system to keep you cool for a few hours while you wait for a shipper or receiver, and the shore power system to keep you cool overnight, you could significantly reduce your idle time.
To help you find truck stops with plug-ins available, the government has set up a Web site with truck stop locations. You can find it here. That’s a mouthful to remember so you can also Google “TSE MAP” and you’ll get some links that will take you to the map.
If you really want to take fuel consumption seriously then the ideal solution is a combination approach. You can now get intelligent controllers for inverters that will run on the batteries until they drop to a certain level and it will then start the generator and switch to generator power. It then uses the surplus output from the generator to charge up the batteries again and once they reach full charge it will shut down the generator and go back to battery power. With this type of system you could stay comfortable all night with the generator running only an hour or two all night. It also has the advantage of allowing you to keep the truck comfortable, a real issue for teams, without needing to run it while fueling, walking in to check in with shippers/receivers or just take a short break. The auxiliary system can be set up to kick in automatically when the truck is shut off keeping it at the pre-set temperature 24/7.
The next step in the trip planning process I’d like to talk about is buying fuel. I’ve talked about this in detail previously and hopefully you’ve read that article and are aware of the pros and cons of planning your purchases based on the actual cost of the fuel and not the pump price so I won’t go through that whole process again. The method I’ll suggest here is based on the actual cost of the fuel. To help you determine the actual cost of fuel, less tax, we’ve setup an IFTA Calculator on our Web site, www.truckershelper.com. Just click the link on the main page and then select the state and enter the pump price and it will give you the taxes and the price less tax.
To figure out where to purchase fuel as you’re planning your trip there are a couple sites that offer free fuel prices on the internet. www.truckmiles.com/fuelprices.asp will give you average prices by state, the fuel price widget, www.truckershelper.com will allow you to look up fuel prices for a specific zip code. If you have a favorite truck stop chain, go to their web site and check the prices along your route. Flying J’s typically have the lowest prices around and generally there will be other truck stops in the vicinity with similar prices if you don’t like Flying J. You can then use our calculator to check the less tax price and come up with the most effective place to purchase fuel.
Another option is to invest in a program that offers fuel optimization. This is a routing program that will calculate the best route and the best places to purchase fuel for you. Truckers Helper, for example, offers fuel optimization in any of our versions with routing. ProMiles also offers both an online and a program version of their fuel optimization. Remember that fuel prices change daily, so you need to update your plans daily. What may have been the best price in town on Monday may be the highest price on Wednesday.
Next month we’ll talk about the final aspect of trip planning, routes and speed and how it affects both your cost and your profit.
Till next month, be safe.
John Ewing is a former owner-operator and the author of The Truckers Helper, business management software for truckers. If you'd like to ask questions or make comments on this article please visit the forums at www.thetruckershelper.com. He will be happy to answer any questions on trucking or managing your trucking business.