Truck Stops Get Wireless Internet 287
Makarand writes "According to SFGate.com, a company called
IdleAire Technologies are building high-tech truck
stops to provide drivers with air-conditioning, television, Internet access
and phone service in truck cabs, so that they can turn off their engines.
Trucks will pull into bays, where flexible tubes ending in vents for hot or cold air, and
touch sensitive screens for Internet access can be pulled inside the truck's cab. There's also a separate wireless Internet option, where drivers don't have to pull into the bays. The basic services provided cost less than the fuel spent in idling a truck."
truck idling (Score:-1, Informative)
Just an interesting tidbit. Since these bays require you to shut off the engine, they actually cost more than the wirless option.
some trucks already have internet (Score:3, Informative)
good budy net (Score:4, Informative)
When I drove, It cost about 2gal for the night of idling, Around here thats less than $3. Not much room for profit and maintance.
On top of that its not going to work well in the midwest winters. Drivers dont have another 2hours to warm up the engine when its real cold outside.
So now they have to idle all night as well as pay the network fee.
hmmm...
Cisco PR (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I saw a trucker fill up this morning.... (Score:3, Informative)
Standard tanks on interstate rigs hold 150 gallons each. $362.50 would probably be the average fillup.
Re:truck idling (Score:2, Informative)
If not, please provide a reference.
correct me if I'm wrong (Score:1, Informative)
I was always told that the biggest reason the trucks idle all the time is the largest part of wear and tear on the truck is in starting and shutting off.
Truck-Stop Electrification (Score:4, Informative)
Starting a large diesel engine (Score:5, Informative)
The vapor temperature is about 150 degrees Farenheit, it's ignition temperature for liquid is about 450 degrees Farenheit at 1 atmosphere. The vapor point allows the vapors to burn quickly causing a flash but diesel can't sustain combustion. So to burn diesel as a fuel you need a lot of heat or a lot of pressure (see Chuck's Law -- P=k*T)
When it is cold it is really difficult to start a diesel engine. This is why people with diesel engines get electric engine heaters installed.
This is a really cool idea, but I doubt many truck drivers would turn off their engines, especially if it is cold outside. So this really won't be a cost saver for most trucking companies. As such, I doubt many trucking companies will spend money for this service as there data needs are quite minimal and there are more than adequate satellite data services already available for routing and driver auditing that are accessible anywhere in the country -- not just at truck stops.
This will be nothing more than a drive by porn d/l sight for the truck drivers. And many Flying J's are already offering internet access already anyway so whats the point?
Truckers (Score:1, Informative)
Re:truck idling (Score:4, Informative)
Re:truck idling (Score:5, Informative)
Are you on drugs? what kind? because to make that statement you must be on some really good ones.
A generic Semi truck get's on average 5.9 miles to the gallon of fuel.
so you are tellimg me that the truck needs to ingest 338 gallons of fuel to start????
Sorry to tell you but that is more than the capacity of most trucks have in fuel.
Dont know what world you live in, but it's not reality.
Another reason engines are idled (Score:5, Informative)
I suspect that most modern semi/long haul rigs are fairly efficient beasts anyway. A better effort would be directed at cleaning up the emissions from short haul/local trucks. Get behind a dump truck at a stop light sometime, watch the black cloud that it belches out as it gets under way. Multiply that time 1000+ stoplights and you'll see how much pollutuon those trucks pump out.
I'm not dead yet (Score:3, Informative)
And, for the benefit of those of you who don't live in PA, look here [driveintheater.com].
Re:Wireless at Truckstops (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I want to be a trucker too (Score:2, Informative)
Travel Channel: World's Best Truck Stops (Score:3, Informative)
I know that I'm glad these truckers are getting a little pampering...God knows how many goods in the United States are shipped via the big rigs...thanks truckers!
Interesting Data Points (Score:4, Informative)
This community of PAYING users probably stands a greater chance of advancing the widespread deployment of public access hotspots than any other. They actually NEED the access it provides, and are willing to pay for it.
Re:Starting a large diesel engine (Score:2, Informative)
Your equation looks cool, but I can tell you that when I pour it over a pile of logs and hold a match to it, it lights.
Re:I wonder (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Top 10 Uses (Score:3, Informative)
I have to say, for $2.00 a six pack, Schlitz is a mighty good beer. Especially with that lemonny goodnesss... mmmmmm
Lets not forget it was the #1 beer in America for nearly a century, as well as the beer that made Milwaukee famous!
Don't knock schlitz
Re:I want to be a trucker too (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Another reason engines are idled (Score:4, Informative)
We lived in Anchorage, AK. We had a diesel Rabbit (similar to this one [americandreamcars.com] (ours had been in snow for starters!)) Yes, it had a plug to plug it in to keep it warm overnight, but even if you forgot it one night, it would still start, even if it was -20 degrees F outside (-20 degrees F is rare in Anchorage, but it does happen.) It would be hard to start, but it would start.
(You did not say `diesel truck engines'. You said `diesel engines', so my anectdotal evidence, even though it's not a `diesel truck engine', does apply.)
Note that diesel freezes when you get much below -20 F. The exact temperature varies, and usually when you buy diesel in a place that is is really cold, it's formulated (I think they add benzyne) to freeze at a colder temperature than what you'd buy in Texas. But eventually as things get colder and colder, you'll run into temperatures where your fuel will gel or freeze if you turn off your truck overnight. This is probably what you're thinking of -- but it's got to be REALLY cold.
(These trucks must have some sort of heating element to keep the fuel tank warm. I wouldn't think that merely keeping the engine warm somewhere near the tank would be enough.)
No glowplugs are hard to start! (Score:3, Informative)
Besides, diesels idle very efficiently (if a little noisy). I'd be surprised if they used more than 1 gal/hr.
And as things get cold, you need to worry more about the battery. Battery electric blankets are essential around -40.
Idling, air quality, and IT in trucking... (Score:5, Informative)
It is true that diesels are hard to start when it's cold, particularly older ones. But it's definatly not difficult when it's not cold, and newer engines have block heaters and fuel system heaters which allow normal starts below 0F. More significant is that diesels don't produce full power until warmed up, and they take a long time to do that when it's cold. Again, newer engines are much better in this respect. Another issue is cooling down properly after a long, hard climb, which can take an hour of idling or more. So yes, truckers must *occasionally* keep their motors running for these reasons.
More likely, though, is that they're running their engines for generator power, so they can run their microwave ovens, televisions, and yes, laptops. Truckers also like to sleep warm like everyone else, and their cab heaters run off their engines just like the ones in your car.
This pollutes a lot, but not as much as you might think. Diesels burn *very* little fuel at idle.
But put a lot of them in one place, and they can create quite a cloud. The noise is a problem too, particularly if the truckstop isn't in the middle of nowhere. So the authorities are cracking down, and the solution is to provide auxiliary plug-in power at truckstops, like RV parks do. Truckers can then run their appliances, use electric cabin heaters, and use block heaters to keep their engines warm at night -- without worrying about keeping their batteries charged.
But what happens when they're away from a truckstop with power? Well, newer trucks are being equipped with small auxiliary diesel generators, like those used in boats and RVs. (Many cabs are a lot like RVs.) These generators run quietly and produce much less pollution. And believe it or not, even fuel cells are being developed for this application.
And yes, truckers *do* use laptops, and the internet, extensively. This is not news -- truckers were some of the earliest of early adopters. Slashdotters marvel at the logistics/IT of companies like Fedex, but assume the rest of the transportation industry is still in the stone age. This is absurd. Besides personal communication and entertainment, the 'net has become a business necessity for truckers -- they're plugged into giant databases of goods that need to be moved, and bid for jobs as they go. Not to mention using computers for everyday business needs like the rest of us do -- bookkeeping, word processing, document management, etc. Keep in mind that a very high percentage of truckers are independent businessmen, franchisees, or small operators with a few trucks. Having access to the same technology as the big boys, at very low cost, is what allows them to compete at all.
Re:I saw a trucker fill up this morning.... (Score:4, Informative)
Our truck (Me and the wife drove team) was a 2002 Freightliner Century Class S/T [freightlinertrucks.com], with a 375HP Cat power plant (13.8 liters, max rpms 2100, 10 speed transmission). Our fuel mileage averaged about 8mpg loaded, and 13mpg empty. Now when we hit the east and west coasts, that changed considerably. Most new trucks nowdays have an onboard display that allows you to see some engine stats, like MPG, etc. I've seen the MPG as low as
When I first started driving, I thought it was full of a bunch of low-bred moronic rednecks. I learned my lesson - it actually requires a lot of math skills to drive. While the overall max weight of the truck cant exceed 80,000 you have to watch axle weights (usually 20,000 max single axle, 34,000 max tandem).
There's 2 places on the truck that slide (usually) the fifth wheel and the trailer axles. Loaded up with paper and the like, it can be a real juggling act, balancing that weight to be even. Even things like the amount of fuel you have in your tanks comes into consideration sometimes. Not only that, but some places have trailer axle restrictions - places like California which only allows the trailer to be MAX in the fifth hole (theres usually 17-21 holes to help us adjust weight) can make it insane.
Not only that, but at least 85% of the truckers I met carried laptops & GPS units these days - it's a lot more high tech then you think!
I saw a thing about the Qualcomm tracking center, large screen like in the NASA mission control with thousands of little dots moving - all trucks (and some marine vessels)being tracked via GPS to with 1/10th of a mile in real time.
Clarity (Score:3, Informative)
1.) Average truck MPG currently in our fleet is 5.45 MPG
2.) Our calculations estimate that the average hour of idling takes about 1 gal of fuel. DOE figures estimate the cost of fuel for period ending 6/16 as $1.43 gal.
3.) 1/3 of our drivers carry personal laptop computers.
4.) Over 3/4 of our drivers use or have used email when at home.
5.) Qualcom (the satellite communication option mentioned by someone) is expensive...check that...beyond expensive. Most plans have a kb charge associated with data transfer.
6.) While wear and tear of an engine is an issue, our current experience with the usage of idle-air is that it's a bit pricey for our units to use every night.
We are actually currently dealing with an owner-operator (truck driver who owns his truck but hauls cargo for our company)who will go over 50+ miles out of route just to stop at an idle-air truckstop when he is near one.
There is a big opportunity for a large-scale wireless provider to make inroads into truckstops, and major shipping and receiving centers. As a developer in the trucking industry, the #1 problem that we fight from a software development perspective is connectivity into our headquarters.
Wireless phone providers advertise âoedata solutionsâ, but having investigated most of those claims, the connections are only available in large metro areas, and poorly supported.
Weâ(TM)re closely watching the developments in wireless Internet at truckstops. If this becomes a widely available option and is relatively hassle-free to connect (can we hard code one connection profile for all sites), then weâ(TM)ll most likely utilize it.
The connection issue is going to be a sticky oneâ¦Itâ(TM)s not like we have CNEâ(TM)s in the cab.
Just my $0.02