California Idle Laws?

Can someone please explain how the California idle laws work? I have a 2011 clean air certified Cummings engine in my truck. No apu because my company believes the truck can be idled in Ca as long as someone is in the sleeper berth. I just found out that Cities like Lodi Ca have there own rules of no idle no matter what. Is this true? I'm in Cali 2 times a week and spend the night often waiting on produce out and the whole time I thought I could idle anywhere.

Sleeper Berth:

The portion of the tractor behind the seats which acts as the "living space" for the driver. It generally contains a bed (or bunk beds), cabinets, lights, temperature control knobs, and 12 volt plugs for power.

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.

Dont sleep in a rest area ,cali and ny both will fine ya for idling they both along with others have no idling laws in effect some say if ur in a truck stop its private property and the smokies cnt do anything to ya unless called in y the truck stop.how much that part is true i dnt know.

Dont sleep in a rest area ,cali and ny both will fine ya for idling they both along with others have no idling laws in effect some say if ur in a truck stop its private property and the smokies cnt do anything to ya unless called in y the truck stop.how much that part is true i dnt know.

Yeah I know Nj is like this too but I thought as long as you had that clean air sticker on your truck you were ok. Thats what my company is telling me. My reefer blows more smoke then my truck may not be as polluted but it deff dumps some serious smoke at times.

Id check with the cdot then i dnt run out there much i just go by what i hear and am told by my company

They were in truck stops in cali today handing out tickets for idling. Fyi

A lot of states have the "no idle" rule. The thing is, what if you don't have an APU , and the temp is 20 below, in winter, or over 100 in the summer? Supposedly (don't quote me on it) there are times when the "no idle" rule is NOT in effect. You would have to check with the particular state, I guess.

Dave

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.

CA has a very STRICT no idle law. The federal law will let you idle for medical reasons, like to run your cpap machine and such. TSB uses a nebulizer, that won't work unless the ambient temp is above 55. In CA you can idle your truck for no more than 5 minutes. And the "Idle Police" are anywhere trucks are, AND they don't drive marked cars, or wear a uniform. TSB idled the truck to get the temp up...they gave him a ticket for $350.00....I tried to fight it, citing the federal statutes...CA refused, saying they can have a stricter rule than the feds, just not a rule softer than the feds

So you can't idle even if your in a truck yard ? In Ca ?

This is yet another one of those Catch-22 situations for drivers. We were just talking about that with running out of hours and yet being told to leave the customer's property - there is no good answer for what to do most of the time.

This is another one. As Starcar mentioned, you can not idle in California for more than 5 minutes and there is no limit on where they can go to hunt you down and fine you for it. What if it's 105 degrees out? By law, it's too bad for you.

Some places use more of a "look the other way" approach - like New York State where I live. You aren't allowed to idle in New York either, but I've never heard of anyone getting a ticket for it in the winter time and the truck stops and rest areas are full of idling trucks. California is a whole different story though. They'll nail you every chance they get.

Now I don't know about idling with a special type of certified engine. You would probably have to speak with someone in California on that or start digging through their policies online. But I'll promise you one thing - don't take your company's word for it. Just because they say it's ok doesn't mean anything. If you get a $350 ticket they're probably going to shrug their shoulders and say, "Sorry, but it's your job to know the laws."

Well I am one who brings a crap load of blankets with me on the road to begin with and double layer my self I am always so cold cause I have low iron I take pills for that and eat a ton of meat but I still get cold easy. But I think in one way the no idle law is a bunch of BS but in another way save the air way I understand it and I am glad we in cal and ny have that law. Its going to really suck in thd summer and winter though