Would You Guys Prefer Your Next Job/truck To Have An APU Or E-APU In It?
Topic 34795 | Page 1
I have an older thermoking tripac apu. I love it. I have almost 20k hours on it. I keep it serviced and it is awesome.
I’ve known folks who have used cheaper brands and had nothing but trouble from them.
Carrier makes one also, but they have less service centers for them. Any thermoking dealer works on apu’s, not so for carrier.
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.
Oh wow. 20k hours! So I'm guessing the noise and vibration never was an issue for you??? Others I've talked to told me that it was an issue for them. Maybe they're exaggerating. But, I'll look into it. How often do you have to service it?
I have an older thermoking tripac apu. I love it. I have almost 20k hours on it. I keep it serviced and it is awesome.
I’ve known folks who have used cheaper brands and had nothing but trouble from them.
Carrier makes one also, but they have less service centers for them. Any thermoking dealer works on apu’s, not so for carrier.
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 service it twice a year. I’m not in the truck everyday. I think thermoking says every 600 hrs. Mine is quite, inside the truck anyway. It doesn’t vibrate.
TWIC:
Transportation Worker Identification Credential
Truck drivers who regularly pick up from or deliver to the shipping ports will often be required to carry a TWIC card.
Your TWIC is a tamper-resistant biometric card which acts as both your identification in secure areas, as well as an indicator of you having passed the necessary security clearance. TWIC cards are valid for five years. The issuance of TWIC cards is overseen by the Transportation Security Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
I have a ThermoKing TriPac and love it, even though I'm writing this while sitting at a dealer for service. My company's newer trucks have Carriers and I haven't heard a lot of great things. I briefly drove a Freightliner with Opti-Idle and didn't get used to it. I wouldn't want to be in a truck without an 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.
None. I prefer to idle all break. I usually don't shut the truck off until home time or services. I find the idling truck to be therapeutic for sleep, and its the way it always was. I have a strong aversion towards pacification of liberal narratives.
It also helps that I work for a company that fuel consumption isn't a metric of performance. No carrot chase here. Although at my previous job, we had idle restrictions and fuel bonuses, I still managed to idle on the time and get the fuel bonus.
If I was to have my own truck, id probably still just idle it. I really haven't seen a significant enough difference in fuel cost to warrant not doing it. Also, I've been in 3 kenworths, all with the Cummins and have had no issues from idling, though I do run it on the high idle.
I have extensive experience surviving off a generator though, and it costs about the same in fuel as idling the truck.
I have a cummins and it burns approx. 6-7 tenths a gallon idiling an hour. That is only one part of the cost equation though.
DPF filters tend to clog faster and do more regens. Alot more heat on parts. Wear on the engine costs more in service/repair.
My apu has a yanmar engine and is built for alot of hours and burns approx. 1 pint of disel per hour. Much cheaper to service the apu vs the cummins.
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.
In 12 years of driving, I've never had an APU. I don't expect I'll ever feel the need for one.
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 had Rigmasters for 4 years then Thermo King... now Carrier.
I like the Carrier the best. It seems less noisy and it uses the coolant from the truck rathee than its own resevoir. Because od that there is a coolant shut off valve in case of issues. He cools the teuck much better and is quieter.
Rigmasters never kept up wirh the heat and rhe fans dies constantly. Thermo King overheated quite a bit in the summer.
The EPUs or Opti idle would drive me nuts bu starting and turning off the truck all night.
EPU:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
Epus:
Electric Auxiliary Power Units
Electric APUs have started gaining acceptance. These electric APUs use battery packs instead of the diesel engine on traditional APUs as a source of power. The APU's battery pack is charged when the truck is in motion. When the truck is idle, the stored energy in the battery pack is then used to power an air conditioner, heater, and other devices
Excuse my ignorance as I haven’t driven OTR in over 15 years, but is idle air still a thing at the truck stops? The company I worked for didn’t want us to idle while in the bunk so they paid for it if it was available. I haven’t seen it in a long time but then again, I get to sleep in my own bed every night. I wish we could have had APU’s on the trucks, that would have made it a lot more comfortable. Nowadays it’s just annoying if the AC doesn’t blow cold enough 😂
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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.
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Hey guys,
I haven't seen this discussed recently in the forum. I'm a rookie here and wanted to know from the guys here that have APUs or eAPUs what they like and don't like about them. Maybe you've tried both and don't like either of them. Is there a better option? I know APUs have been around forever and eAPUs are newer but they have their own issues. I'm all for saving gas and $$$ but not if it means freezing or sweating my ass off at night to save a few bucks. So, what do you guys recommend?
Oh and if you prefer the APU or eAPU. Tell me why.
Or if there's something newer out there that you have tried that is better than both, let me know.
Thanks guys! Really appreciate it!
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.