The madness of idling?

[Lucky~13]

With the painfully high cost of diesel, my companies really getting on us about idling. We're getting tons of emails, notes posted all over, and I even got busted for letting my rig idle while doing the morning checkout. The message is clear, if you not on a call, NO IDLING! I can kinda see their point though from a cost perspective. Cutting all unnecessary idling can save the company around 10 grand a year. But sometimes not idling is just unrealistic.

At my company, the emergency cars get a nice air conditioned base. So yeah, they'll shut their rigs off. But the transfer cars (which make up half our shifts) don't get a base, they have to post. And the only way to keep from roasting inside the rig is to keep the air conditioning on. Which means the engine stays running, the cost goes up, and we're in violation of company policy.

Anyone else run into problems like this? Anyone come up with novel solutions? I'd like to help the company but I'm willing to go only so far. And I draw the line at becoming a dehydrated, shriveled up EMT.

[mshow00]

We have the same thing going atm, only it's not policy yet and it is under the guise of being "green". All of our trucks ALS(911) and BLS(IFT) are posted in strategic locations(which also seem to be the least shady)

[akflightmedic]

Ok, I am in no way mechanically educated however I was under the impression that idling saves more fuel than starting and stopping.

How long are you posting before you actually go somewhere? If you are sitting for hours, I could see this as making sense. If you are there 45 mins or less, it seems more cost effective to idle as it also keeps your unit cooler which is what the patients need as well.

[spenac]

Ok, I am in no way mechanically educated however I was under the impression that idling saves more fuel than starting and stopping.

How long are you posting before you actually go somewhere? If you are sitting for hours, I could see this as making sense. If you are there 45 mins or less, it seems more cost effective to idle as it also keeps your unit cooler which is what the patients need as well.

Actually many of the newer diesels are not supposed to be left idling it messes something up. I'm no mechanic so don't know what.

[Lucky~13]

According to the emails, a truck idling for an hour consumes about a gallon of fuel. And starting the rig only consumes about 30 seconds of 'idle time' fuel.

As for post call volume, we can average 5-6 calls for a 8-9 hour shift. Or we might only get one or two calls for the same time frame.

[Lucky~13]

Ok, I am in no way mechanically educated however I was under the impression that idling saves more fuel than starting and stopping.

From the email:

"Letting an engine idle actually does more damage to the engine than

starting and stopping. Running an engine at low speed (idling) causes twice

the wear on internal parts compared to driving at regular highway speeds,

which can increase maintenance costs and shorten the life of the engine.

Please check your owner's manual to find out specific warm-up guidelines for

your vehicle."

[Richard B the EMT]

In the FDNY EMS, we are "posted", or as we now tell walk up complainers, we're "staging" on street corners. Only a few units actually are at a building, and can turn off the ambulances for extended periods. We do not have the capability to plug the ambulances into a "shore line", or power it from the building's electrical supply.

In the heat of the summer, if you are lucky, you can possibly have a shady tree to park under, but the vehicle radio and computer link, and now the GPS vehicle locater, will still be drawing power. In the winter, if you think I'm sitting 8 hours on an overnighter on my street corner, in 0 degree temperatures, think again! My engine is going to remain on except when I am in a patient's residence, and if I leave the vehicle's warning lights on, using the security stuff built in, I'm still going to leave the engine on.

I have twice, on different vehicles, turned off the engine, and sat for an extended period, only to not have enough juice to turn the engine back on. One time, was just as we got assigned a call, the other, we just wanted to go someplace to get some lunch. Different field supervisors "jump-started" the ambulances, and we went back into service.

[Capman]

Good question!

In the service I work for, we have not had any memos generated about idle time as of yet. We also see high hours of idle time. Our service covers about 1 dozen towns. This is divided among 4 bases. When a base is depleted of ambulance coverage due to calls, the neighboring base stages up at pre-determined locations, such as at town lines. Sometimes this is for hours on end. You can see where this would be a problem in Northern Maine where the temperatures can reach -70 in the winter and 100+ in the summer. Sitting in a rig that were shut off, would cause you to either fry or freeze. Not only is it inhospitable for the occupants/staff of the rig, it would ruin the meds and fluids as well. If administration wants you to stage/sit at the town line, then the rigs will idle.

[HellsBells]

For those of you who have to stage, it will be interesting to see if the time comes when it is more cost effective to actually build proper stations for the Ambulances then it is to burn fuel from idling.

[mrmeaner]

From a maintenence standpoint, I usderstand that idling for a long period of time may cause some minor damage, however, automotive batteries are not made to be run down on a regular basis. And with ambulance batteries, when one goes bad, the other two tend to follow shortly. I would see that as a bigger problem.