PAM Dumping APUs????

Saw this on this website under the company tag. Is this true? Any PAM drivers out there? Heading to orientation after local drug test/phys. Thought companies were GOiNG to APUs...not getting rid of them?!?! Take er easy.

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.

I think you'll find a lot of companies who switched to them are now getting rid of them. They aren't as reliable as they should be and not everyone can work on every model. Thermo King has some proprietary software that can only be scanned and read in their shops and not every company wants the inconvenience of having to take a truck to a thermo king facility and pay the higher rates to have them fixed.

Another reason I have heard from recruiters for companies that are phasing them out was that it costs $12k+ to install an APU per truck. And since the largest fleets swap their trucks out at 2 or 2.5 years the APU doesn't have time to make $12k back in savings or at least not enough for it to be worth it to the companies to maintain. Again this was from a recruiter so I don't know if thats even close to the real reason but it seemed to make sense.

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.

Another reason I have heard from recruiters for companies that are phasing them out was that it costs $12k+ to install an APU per truck. And since the largest fleets swap their trucks out at 2 or 2.5 years the APU doesn't have time to make $12k back in savings or at least not enough for it to be worth it to the companies to maintain. Again this was from a recruiter so I don't know if thats even close to the real reason but it seemed to make sense.

So I do wonder what the break even point is for an APU vs. Idling? Considering if it costs $12K plus cost of maintenance plus the cost of fuel for the APU.... that's a lot of money that can just be spent directly on fuel to just idle the truck when needed.

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.

Thanks to all. Makes sense. Hopefully they lax on their idle policy. Will find out Monday. Safe travels and take er easy!

Thanks to all. Makes sense. Hopefully they lax on their idle policy. Will find out Monday. Safe travels and take er easy!

one thing I have found that seems to be universal at the trucking companies. If you say you have to idle to get restful sleep in order to operate the truck SAFELY they drop the issue.