Question Of Curiosity

I am attaching an image of something at a truck stop in Connecticut. I am curious as to what this is at what purpose it may have served in the past. This is purely a question of curiosity.

That is a heater/air conditioning unit. When it was operational it had a hose/air duct coming out of it that went to a vent on the end. That vent would fit in your truck's window and it had controls on it so you could set a temperature for your cab.

The idea was to keep you from idling your truck so you could obey the city ordinance against idling. The units required so much maintenance that they proved to be too costly. They seem to have been pretty much abandoned.

I've been at that truck stop many times. Connecticut has limited truck parking, but I've never seen them enforce their no idling ordinance.

That is a heater/air conditioning unit. When it was operational it had a hose/air duct coming out of it that went to a vent on the end. That vent would fit in your truck's window and it had controls on it so you could set a temperature for your cab.

The idea was to keep you from idling your truck so you could obey the city ordinance against idling. The units required so much maintenance that they proved to be too costly. They seem to have been pretty much abandoned.

I've been at that truck stop many times. Connecticut has limited truck parking, but I've never seen them enforce their no idling ordinance.

Thanks for the info on that. I tried doing a Google Lens search, but that yielded nothing. I decided to post on here figuring that of the many drivers who have been driving a while, someone would have insight.

Pilot dealer truck stop on I-95 right before (or after) the Rhodes Island line. Connecticut parking is definitely not easy to find. I consider myself fortunate that I was looking during a time when most are still driving and on a Saturday over a holiday weekend. If this place had turned up full, I would have tried the TA a few miles further north on 95. After that I would have been wandering aimlessly, hoping to find a place to park. Ok, not really, but I would have been diverting from my intended route and potentially gumming up my plan for a nice, long (12-13 hours) break.

Yep Idle Air was a good concept but never worked out. I still have my account card. Guess I’m getting old, lol.

Hi Ryan. A while back there was a discussion about these IdleAir installations at truck stops. I think one of Anne’s relatives had a part in their development. Most of the existing infrastructure of these can be identified by an elevated horizontal girder under which trucks parked and used the elephant trunks to heat or cool the tractors. A number of these structures still exist at older truck stops and I still see one occasionally.

It was an innovative idea at the time but was made obsolete by the APU.

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.

It was an innovative idea at the time but was made obsolete by the APU.

…bunk heaters and optimized idle too.

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 was at the Gateway Pilot in East St Louis, IL a few nights ago. They are finally dismantling the Idle Air structures there. Those in particular haven't been in use since I've been driving.

This discussion then explains the overhead structures and signage indicating "nose in parking" that I have seen at like 3 or 4 truck stops. I didn't realize that the overhead structures were for the same purpose, but now it's making complete sense.

Packrat that was the location I got my idle air account at. I was assigned at the terminal around the corner. Been there more times than I can count.

I am attaching an image of something at a truck stop in Connecticut

Is that the truck stop with a huge amount of space in front and around the pumps but you have to go to the area in back to park? Also no DEF at pumps if it's the one I'm thinking of.

The Flying J closest to my house (just over the Delaware Memorial Bridge in New Jersey) still has idle-air framework in the back part of the lot.