Most drivers are aware of what an alternative power unit (APU) is and many trucks operating in North America are using them now.  Work, utility, delivery, and smaller trucks often don’t have an APU on them, however, as they can be cost-prohibitive for a vehicle that has no sleeper and only operates 8-12 hours per day.  It’s estimated, however, that medium and heavy-duty day trucks and utility vehicles use about a gallon an hour idling on job sites.

If a truck idles for 4 hours a day at a gallon an hour for a 360-day work year, that amounts to 1,440 gallons of fuel annually.  At $2.80/gallon for diesel fuel, that is $4,032 per year spent on idling fuel alone.  That is a lot of money and a lot of fuel.

Green Fleet in Sedona, Arizona wants to change that and help companies spend less on wasted fuel idling.  Their units cost about 1/3-1/2 of that yearly cost in idling fuel and are focused on small medium-duty or day-cab heavy-duty trucks.  This is a market that is often overlooked as the focus for anti-idling devices is usually on big trucks and over-the-road haulers.

Their device is a plug-in unit that pulls power from the engine during driving time and road operations, storing it in a battery.  When the vehicle is stopped for a length of time, the engine is automatically shut off and the Green Fleet device runs auxiliary systems from its battery storage.

Different sizes are available for various applications from small cars to Class 8 trucks.  Most of the company’s focus, however, is on the medium-duty truck arena (Class 4, 5, 6) in utility and delivery fleets.  Units with a battery start at about $1,800 with all installation hardware and can fit inside most medium-duty trucks.

The Green Fleet andi-idler has the ability to store information for download in the shop to get numbers on actual fuel savings, lengths of time the unit was operational, and to assist in any technical problems the unit might be having such as a bad battery or missing connection.

This is a market that is missed with a lot of the anti-idling and fleet efficiency initiatives being put out there.  Another thing not often mentioned with fleet trucks in the medium-duty sector is in dispatch and routing efficiency.  That is another area that could use some innovation and hopefully some solution providers are finding ways to do that.

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