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Old Idling Habits Die Easily
For Wes Jones, the difference was literally day from night. A truck driver for most of his life, Jones burned thousands of gallons of diesel fuel to keep his vehicle cool in summer and warm in winter. It was as much a force of habit as a matter of comfort.
"It was pitiful," he recalls. "I went for years and years idling my truck without really thinking much about it."
But then again, Jones adds, "I spend most of my time in the truck. I can't sit for long in truck stops. The way I figure it, I heat and cool my home all the time. I live here, so I'm not going to be miserable."
Earlier this year, Jones discovered how easy it was to break his lifelong habit and still enjoy year-round comfort. He installed the NITE (No-Idle Thermal Environment) system in the side compartment of his 2004 Volvo VN.
Manufactured by Bergstrom Inc., the NITE system provides the onboard remedy for overnight cooling and heating of long-haul trucks, without engine idling. It was specifically designed to operate independent of the truck's main engine. It features a fully independent air-conditioning system and a compact, diesel fuel-operated heater.
"What caught my eye was the fact that the air-conditioning unit runs strictly off battery power," Jones says. "The air conditioner draws no energy from the truck's electrical system when the truck engine is turned off. The power source recharges while the engine is running."
Few owner-operators feel as passionately about their profession as Jones is. The son of a driver, Jones was raised around trucks.
"I fell in love with trucks as a kid and never grew up," says Jones, now age 63.
That love extended to collecting miniatures. In fact, toy trucks of various sizes and types fill two rooms of his home in University Park, Iowa.
Jones hauls a refrigerator trailer, transporting dry freight all across the United States. He racks up more than 140,000 miles a year and never makes the same kind of haul twice in a row. Even before he decided to replace his previous truck, a 1998 model with about 660,000 miles on the odometer, Jones had begun investigating alternatives to idling.
"With the high price of diesel fuel and the growing number of states enacting anti-idling laws, idling makes no sense," he says. "I firmly believe no-idle devices will be mandatory in a couple of years."
Jones compared popular alternatives, such as auxiliary power units. "Some systems were in the range of $9,000, weighed 350 to 450 pounds and had complicated hookups," he points out. "The main thing that sold me on the NITE system was its relative simplicity. The entire system is very lightweight, and there is basically no upkeep to it."
The NITE system, in contrast to other idling-reduction products on the market, adds only 210 pounds to the truck's weight. Bergstrom's patent-pending hermetically sealed air-conditioning unit houses the compressor, condenser, evaporator, fan assemblies and all other major components. The compressor is the only DC-input compressor on the market today that incorporates 12-volt DC brushless motor technology in this range of capacity, according to Terry Zeigler, Bergstrom's director of new product development.
Powered by four 6-volt deep-cycle batteries in series, the NITE air conditioner offers 3,600 BTUs of cooling capacity. It keeps the sleeper area at 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit when the outside temperature is 90-plus degrees Fahrenheit. Heat output ranges from 3,930 to 7,860 BTUs per hour. The fuel requirement to heat the sleeper area is 0.03 to 0.06 gallons per hour.
The NITE system is widely available at more than 2,000 Sales and Service Centers across North America. Bergstrom's toll-free NITEline at (866) 204-8570 enables callers to find the location of the center nearest them. The NITE system website at www.NITEsystem.com includes an online Sales and Service Centers locator.
Jones estimates that the NITE system has cut his idling time by about 80 percent. "I was an awfully hard sell," he admits, "but that's mighty impressive."
He especially appreciates the NITE system's reliable climate control system.
"Before installing the NITE system, I was either cooling the truck or heating it. I could never get it set right," Jones says. "I'd go to sleep cool and wake up sweating, turn the air conditioner on and wake up again freezing. With the control in the sleeper, I can maintain a constant temperature."
Over the years, Jones has heard many other drivers claim they couldn't sleep if their trucks weren't running.
"That may be true for them, but I honestly think I rest better with the engine shut off," he states. "When I didn't have the NITE system, I would do what was necessary and then want to take a nap. These days, I wake up in the morning rested and ready to get things done."
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