Achieving emissions and sustainability goals are other reasons fleets are looking for ways to reduce idle.
“By investing in technologies and practices, fleets can reduce idle to well below 20%. The challenge is figuring out which set of technologies are best for you and being diligent in making it work,” says Mike Roeth, Executive Director, NACFE.
While there is no one right answer when it comes to reducing idling, the report explores a variety of options including fuel-operated heaters, diesel APUs, battery HVAC systems, automatic engine start/stop systems and vehicle controls, and driver behavior as main solutions to idling. It also covers solutions like additional cab insulation and light colored paint that can enhance a fleet’s idle-reduction efforts.
The report found that the most efficient and effective idle-reduction solution for a fleet entails a combination of complementary technologies used together. Four anchor technologies — driver controls + fuel-operated heaters, diesel APU + fuel-operated heater, battery HVAC + fuel-operated heater, and automatic engine start/stop system — are best as the basis for a solution with additional technologies to support the anchor.
The report concluded that a reduction of 20% is not unreasonable if the right combination of technologies are employed and managed. Drivers are a very important part of successful management of idle times.
Since every fleet has its own goals, the benefits and challenges of each technology need to be weighed along with the fleet objective to find the technologies that will work best for that fleet.
The report also includes a Confidence Matrix and a payback calculator. The report is available at www.nacfe.org.
For media enquiries, please contact Denise Rondini: denise.rondini@nacfe.org.
