Leaving A Dog In The Truck

I delivered to a chemical company once and wasn't allowed to bring my dog on their property. They even look inside the sleeper to make sure. They had a printout of some places that would watch your pet during the delivery. It was kind of a pain cause I had to leave, drop off dog and go back to pick her up. She was due for a shot in a few weeks so I took care of that also since I was dropping her off at a vet. Two other places also wouldn't allow pets but didn't check, they would just ask if you had any pets, so I just said no.

3 times in 15 months OTR with Prime it was an issue. I have a feeling my DM just forgot I had a dog, I'm assuming it makes more sense to give those loads to a non pet truck.

Rainy - Kewl pics your cat looks comfy and "in charge."

^scott

Thanks for sharing the information. I can see that leaving a dog in the truck for a few hours in hot summer weather would induce paranoia in the owner as you'd be worried about the apu or idle shutting off unexpectedly while gone. I'd guess generally if a dog was left alone for awhile it would be during cooler weather or at night.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

I'd guess generally if a dog was left alone for awhile it would be during cooler weather or at night.

Oh man, one time I stopped for a few hours in Vegas to get one of those glorious casino buffets. I don't gamble but I sure do eat! It was the dead of summer, middle of the afternoon, I was parked in the middle of an asphalt parking lot, and it was 105 outside. I left the truck running with the air conditioner on and pulled the curtain closed.

While I was inside the air conditioner shredded the belt. When I tried climbing in the truck it seriously had to be 125 degrees in there. I never felt anything like it. I opened up the doors to let it air out but that was a waste of time without air conditioning so I figured I'll get driving down the road and get some air flowing in here.

I'm not kidding - I had to hold a T-shirt in each hand - one for the steering wheel, one for the shifter, because they were so hot it was burning my hands. Everyone has gotten into a vehicle where the sun was beating down on the dash or the door and you burn your arm on it. Well everything in my truck was that hot. That air conditioner quit but it was still blowing hot air and the truck was still idling so not only was the sun beating down on it but the hot engine and exhaust were heating up the inside to boot.

The heat was remarkable. Sweat was just pouring off me. Driving at least got the air circulating a bit but it was brutal. Fortunately I only had to drive about two hours to get to a shop and that was that - it had to get fixed in that kind of heat.

Seriously, if an animal had been left in the truck I don't know if it would have survived. So be careful about that.

Not to highjack the thread but, how do get a larger dog, say 40 pounds up in and out of the truck.

Not to highjack the thread but, how do get a larger dog, say 40 pounds up in and out of the truck.

Mine jumps in and out on command

Actually having a dog let's you idle in those Nazi no idle places. They will let us die but not the dog haha.

This is not correct; there is nothing overriding anti-idling laws for your pet's health or comfort.

I saw a driver with a large dog. The driver had this ramp that would hook on to the upper step and the dog used the ramp. It was a pretty neat setup. The ramp was parallel to the truck and slanted down towards the rear of the truck if that makes any sense.

This is not correct; there is nothing overriding anti-idling laws for your pet's health or comfort.

What I was able to find on the subject:

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truck-idling/13ccr2485_09022016.pdf (2) Subsection (c)(1) does not apply for the period or periods during which

...

(E) idling of the primary diesel engine, operating a diesel-fueled APS, or operating other devices when forced to remain motionless due to immediate adverse weather conditions affecting the safe operation of the vehicle or due to mechanical difficulties over which the driver has no control;

...

(I) idling of the primary diesel engine, operating a diesel-fueled APS, or operating other devices when operating defrosters, heaters, air conditioners, or other equipment solely to prevent a safety or health emergency;

Definitions: (22) “Safety or health emergency” means:

(A) a sudden, urgent, or usually unforeseen, occurrence; or

(B) a foreseeable occurrence relative to a medical or physiological condition.

I'm interpreting this to say you can idle while waiting out a snowstorm, to keep you windows from icing up, or to prevent your own heatstroke but not your dog's heatstroke. What do the rest of you think? And why have I read all over the internet that I can only idle in CA if I leave my dog alone in the vehicle?

If the Pooch can't come with me, I probably Don't want to be going their either! #DogLife Pooches are great judges of character... if you won't let my Buddy of Buddy's in, than I can find a Bone to Pick somewhere Else! 😋😼🐶

Having a dog along is great company, but to be honest, it does complicate things at times. Some of our trucks have apus , the rest, we are allowed to use opti-idle, although the company wants us to keep it at a minimum. If there is any problem with the regen equipment, Freightliner will pull the idle percentage records, and if they consider it too high, will void the warranty. That being said, Wolding is very understanding about keeping us comfortable, they just ask us to use common sense. When I go in for shower, etc., I set the opti-idle, turn on my little truck stop fan, and pull the curtains. My dog is quiet unless she sees things going on outside. I try to be as quick as possible, because I worry that something will go wrong and cause the AC to stop working. As long as the truck is really cool inside to begin with, it stays tolerable for 20-30 minutes with the curtains pulled. Being out west in the extreme summer temps, I need to be aware of hot blacktop burning her feet, because my little 65 lb. girl is too much for me to carry across a parking lot. I try to park as close to the side as possible. If there is ANY grass available, and maybe a tree, we go sit under it for a while just to give her some out of the truck time. As for watching a movie, that would be a video on my computer in the truck. I am not comfortable being away from the truck for long, I am paranoid about someone stealing her because she is a pit bull. We have gone hiking together on 34 hour resets. Pretty much, if the dog can't come with me, then I don't go there either.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

APUs:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.