I stayed in a motel last night and let the truck rest here in the SoCal heat

[Tobin S.]

Boy was it nice to sleep in something that doesn't rumble. I've been out on the road for about a month now and I'm catching a load later tonight going back home to Ohio. I'm going to take a week off, get my taxes done, go to a doctor's appointment, and generally take it easy for a while.

I think I'll do this motel deal more often, especially when I have to sit for a while. This place cost $48 for the night (not bad for the L.A. area). Diesel is about $3 a gallon most places now. My truck burns about a gallon an hour idling to keep the a/c going. When I'm under a load I have to have a 10 hour break every day so that's $30 burned up right there. It could be 24 hours waiting on a load, so the motel is definitely more cost effective then if I can get a place at a reasonable price.

[MiddleFingerMom]

1. Don't forget showers when and as needed/WANTED!!!!

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When I was young and broke, but traveled a lot (usually to see friends),
I would THINK about getting a room JUST to take a shower and spare them
my roadfunk... but I would almost always end up sneaking into a motel
swimming pool at 3 or 4 AM and soaking away the worst of it before
getting to their places (just in time for breakfast -- I ain't no dummy!!)
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.

[Tobin S.]

2. Getting a shower usually isn't a problem

I guess a lot of people don't know this. Truck stops have showers. They are free with a purchase of at least 50 gallons of fuel. I burn 100 gallons a day easily when I'm not waiting for a load. Some truck stops also give you a free shower if you spend at least $50 in their shop. Unfortunately, that's pretty easy to do sometimes, too. You can also purchase a shower for anywhere from $5-$10 depending where you go.

[femmocrat]

3. Are they clean?

If you add in the cost of a shower at the truck stop, seems like your motel bill was well worth it. :hi:

[Tobin S.]

5. Usually

They usually get cleaned after every use. I've been in some real dives before where that wasn't the case, but they are not the norm.

[MiddleFingerMom]

4. Plus, don't they give you a time limit???

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One of my non-trucker options was to go to a local YMCA.
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For a buck, they'd give you a coupla towels and the use of
their showers.
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.

[Tobin S.]

6. I've never run across that

Not even in the worst of truck stops. They are private stalls that include a sink, toilet, and shower. They supply the towels and the soap. I'm usually in there for about 30 minutes and nobody has ever come a-knocking.

[Iggo]

7. Glad to have you back here.

Sorry it's so hot. Supposed to be back down to 76 this weekend and even milder next week.

You juuuuuuuuust missed it! LOL.

[Tobin S.]

9. Thanks Iggo

I really like southern California. It's not too fun driving around here in a 70 foot rig, but I can handle it. The people generally seem friendly and as far as the weather goes, I'll take your summer heat over my Ohio winters anytime. I'd love to live here, but housing is a lot more costly than it is in Ohio. Otherwise this would be a great place to live.

[av8rdave]

8. I would think a hotel at least occasionally would be essential

We all need some room to stretch out sometimes in a quiet environment. Compared to your "normal" cost of overnighting, it doesn't look like it costs you too much.

Years ago, during one of our more contentious contract negotiations (they all seem to be), we actually had an employee suggest on a company forum that pilots sleep on cots at the airport to save money. Fortunately, even the powers that be wouldn't entertain that seriously (if they thought the FAA would buy off on it, that might be a different story).

Someone who suggests something like that may mean well, but they don't know anything about the life of being on the road a lot!

[Tobin S.]

10. Yes, it is very nice and I think I'll fo it more often now

Call it my sanity break. :)

People at trucking companies do all kinds of weird things to try to save a buck, too, without thinking about how it will afftect their drivers and usually without any extra compensation. It's almost like they don't see us as normal humans sometimes- something less.

[GCP]

17. I don't think they do mean well with suggestions like that

I don't think they're thinking at all. Or if they are, they are totally lacking in empathy. IOW - repigs.

[av8rdave]

21. By "do well," I think it is a case of sincerely wanting to find ways to save the company $$$

As far as a total lack of empathy, you're exactly right. They never consider what it's like to spend half of your nights in a strange town in a hotel room. If you could get them to imagine spending half of their nights (for an entire career) sleeping on an airport cot, they might get it.

[Kali]

11. Hey Tobin,

If you are taking 10 back east be sure to notice the difference in color east of the San Pedro River towards the New Mexico line since you went by earlier this summer! Honk when you go by MP 317!

Sometimes being able to walk across a room and flop down on a big clean bed just can not be beat, eh?

[Tobin S.]

12. Hi Kali

I don't think I'll be headed back that way unless they put a few stops on me going to southern Texas, which is a slight possibility. If I do I'll be sure to lay on the horn for you real good. :)

Mile post 317 is out in the middle of nowhere. How far do you have to drive to get to the grocery store? How do you get your utilities?

[Kali]

16. we have all kinds of rights-of-ways going through here -

a 16 inch natural gas line went in in the 40's and we have a "tap", my Great-grandfather ran the first phone lines through the area way back, (sold out to AT&T and rumor has it there should be some old stock certificates somewhere!) and the REA got electricity here in the 30's I'm guessing.

There are underground fiber-optic cables running right by the house too, but the contractor SWORE to me there was no easy way for me to hook into that so I am still on shitty dial up. Not sure I believe them but what can I do?

We do most of our shopping in Benson or Wilcox (15 and 20 miles), not too bad. Go to Tucson once a month or so.

[Xithras]

13. Ack! Don't idle your truck here anyway!

California passed a law back in 2008 that made it a fineable offense to idle your truck for more than 5 minutes, even if you're doing it to run A/C or other "cabin comfort" items.

I know that a lot of drivers ignore the law, but a friend of mine was handed a $300 ticket by the CHP just last week for doing it. He'd pulled over to grab a few winks off of I-5, and woke to a cop beating on his door. To say that he was peeved is an understatement.

All it takes is one bored cop...

[Tobin S.]

14. Thanks for the warning

I didn't know that about California, but I did know you guys have an air pollution problem out here. But if it's in the 90s or better, I'll have to take my chances if I'm not able to get a room. Heat can be downright dangerous.

New York state has a law like that and it gets below zero at times out that way in the winter. I don't know how they expect drivers not to idle in that. I guess I could get a generator, but that costs a lot of money and some down time getting it installed.

[zipplewrath]

15. Gotta figure a camper system would work

They have all manner of AC systems for campers and trailers that don't require 300 horse power of diesel engine running to power them. Most run on propane or something. I would think you could get such a system installed pretty easy, just for sleeping and such. Less noise, less fuel, and a touch more environmentally friendly.

But for what it's worth, there are web sites like Priceline.com and others that do "last minute" bookings for hotel rooms. You could probably make use of them to get rock bottom prices on rooms.

[Born_A_Truman]

18. I've seen these at truck stops (Idleair)

They aren't everywhere and I don't know the cost but it looks really neat! I remember seeing truckers using them once at a truck stop.

[Tobin S.]

20. I forget how much they cost, but I remember it being less than idling

Unfortunately, they aren't very common yet.

[Ikonoklast]

22. Deader than Disco; done in by truck-mounted APU's.

See: http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=84551

They are trying to resurrect the company at about twenty-five locations or so, but I can't see their business model succeeding.

Truck-mounted diesel-fired auxiliary power units, which provide heating, cooling, engine block heating for cold-weather starts, and electric power to the cab for hotel loads pretty much did them in.


You'd have to assume that the driver would never run out of hours at a location without IdleAire, which in the real world, would seldom happen...waiting in the extreme cold or heat waiting for hours to load or unload, running out of driving time in the middle of nowhere, etc., it is far easier to carry a truck-mounted unit and have it with you wherever you go.

Now, having said that, California is now moving to ban all diesel-fired units on trucks in the near future, because as hard as it is to believe, the normally aspirated (non-turbocharged) two and three-cylinder diesel power plants in these Ape's actually spew more pollutants than a modern 12 or 14-liter diesel at idle.

They use far less fuel, but California is moving toward adopting all-electric APU rules soon, maybe proposing them around 2014 for implementation two or four years down the road.


They are also looking to ban diesel-fired reefer units, and either have them all retrofitted with diesel particulate filters, or mandating an all-electric unit. Either way, those things would be tremendously expensive.

As goes California, so goes the industry. They are the tail that wags the dog.

That is one reason I put off purchasing a $7-8K APU that wouldn't be usable in four or so years in many states.

[Roon]

19. I had an '89 peterbuilt and stopped to sleep smack dab

in the middle of the Mohave desert in july. The tempreature was 100+ and it was in the middle of the day. The AC in this thing was so good that I was FREEZING when I woke up! I used to put cokes on the AC vent in the sleeper to keep them cold. The sleeper also zipped up very tightly and it was pitch dark in there.I had a very nice nap that day.

Of course it's no big deal to idle when you are idling on the company's dime! :o