Understand, detect and stop true idling

Article originally written by Geotab, edited by AttriX

Mont-Saint-Hilaire, QC, June 16th 2022- Despite what you may have heard, turning off your car or truck and then restarting it does not burn more fuel than leaving it running. Some drivers leave their vehicle idling without even thinking about it. For example, an employee waits in their car for a coworker at a local coffee shop, the engine humming in the background. Fleet idling can be very costly to business operations due to wasted fuel, accumulated vehicle maintenance costs, and significant fines in some countries, regions, and cities. Targeting this area can help you significantly reduce costs, fuel consumption, and emissions.

True idling versus operational idling

A common myth in trucking is that diesel engines need at least five minutes of warm-up time before driving at any temperature. These days, most diesel engine manufacturers recommend no more than three to five minutes of preparational idling, unless the temperature is lower than 0°F, in which case seven minutes is recommended. Any time longer than that can cause engine damage over the long term. These engines only need to warm up if ambient temperature is lower than 50°F.

Understanding the difference between true idling and operational idling is helpful to managing this area of your fleet operations.

How does idling harm vehicle engines and systems?
According to Popular Mechanics, idling can cause fuel to wash away the oil which lubricates the motor, causing friction which ages the engine prematurely. Fuel injection engines warm up faster while driving than idling once the correct oil pressure and RPMs are reached. Modern engines have fuel consumption regulating sensors, and idling doesn’t warm the engine well enough to enable the sensors to respond, as the fuel to air ratio is too rich. Partially combusted fuel can damage engines, spark plugs, and exhaust systems.

The economic and environmental effects of idling
According to an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) idling burns up to an eighth of a gallon of diesel fuel per hour, and vehicles that idle more than 50% of their time experience higher maintenance costs. It calculates that by reducing vehicle idling for twenty-five trucks by two hours a day would save forty gallons of diesel. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average price of diesel has hovered around $5.00 per gallon in March and April of 2022, which equates to a savings of $200 per day over 300 operating days equates to $60,000.

Another EPA report finds that the transportation industry contributed 27% of US-based greenhouse gas emissions. It recommended reducing engine idling as a key operating practice to reduce emissions and fuel costs. Natural Resources Canada estimates that if Canadian motorists avoided idling for just three minutes every day of the year, CO2 emissions could be reduced by 1.4 million tonnes annually, the equivalent of taking 320,000 cars off of the road for the entire year.

What are the consequences of excessive idling?
Many jurisdictions charge fines for idling over three minutes, such as Canada, United-States, UK and several countries in the European Union.
Plus, job seekers with high demand skills often evaluate potential employers based on their efforts to end climate change. Investors are increasingly evaluating companies based on the triple bottom line of profit, people and the planet.

Set up a true idling rule and notification
Fleet managers can set software-based rules to identify excessive idling events and vehicles to understand where coaching, maintenance, or other corrective actions should be taken. With email and text message notifications, fleet managers can identify any exceptions generated from these rules to hel; improve idling numbers.

Driver Challenge
Coaching through gamification has proven effective for many areas of fleet management, including discouraging idling, speeding, and distracted driving.

The Driver Challenge is an exclusive solution developed by the AttriX team to motivate your drivers to improve their driving habits according to the Geotab rules you choose. For example, if you want to target the excessive use of idling, you just have to select this rule and the drivers' score will be based on it. By encouraging friendly competition, our famous contest helps increase fleet safety and productivity, as well as driver performance and commitment.

BENEFITS:

-Allows you to tag and monitor drivers' driving habits.
-Provides fleet report cards and driver rankings.
-Analyses weekly and quarterly trends.
-Provides an unparalleled training tool for coaching and prevention.
-Driver motivation, satisfaction and retention.
-Improves drivers' driving habits.
-Reduces operational and maintenance costs.
-Increases awareness of the impacts of poor driving habits.
-Identifies and helps avoid risky behavior.
-Provides continuous driving monitoring through real-time notifications.

Track idling and fuel consumption trends with custom reporting with Lighthouse

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, idling can consume a quarter to half a gallon of fuel per hour. The Trends Report can be used to determine if the fuel utilization policies implemented have been successful in reducing the amount of fuel used, and how they have affected the miles traveled and idling statistics.

The Lighthouse platform, developed entirely by the AttriX team, extends its benefits to companies that wish to reduce their transportation and fuel costs. Of course, one of the most effective ways to reduce these operational costs is to reduce excessive idling.

Here are some of the features of this innovative solution that address this issue:

Fleet idling overview
Heat map of targeted events (excessive idling) by duration and location
Timeline of events by driver
Precise calculation of the cost and quantity of fuel consumed during idling

Vehicle idling stop-start technology
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that 46% of 2020 model year vehicles from all manufacturers were equipped with non-hybrid stop-start. The EPA study lists leading fuel conservation technologies, including turbo, gasoline direct injection, and 7-plus gear transmissions. The fuel and savings resulting from automated engine stop-start systems vary widely, as it delivers the most value in urban areas where traffic density is highest.

How much CO2 does an idling engine produce?
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy estimate that idling from heavy-duty and light-duty vehicles burns about 6 billion gallons of fuel annually. Almost half of that idling is emitted by personal vehicles, which generate around 30 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year.

According to the North American Council on Freight Efficiency (NACFE), truckers that let their trucks idle overnight for between five and eight hours per night to heat their engine cabins as they sleep contributes 24,000 pounds of CO2 to the atmosphere. These trucks also burn 1,200 gallons of diesel fuel per year, which at today’s diesel prices is equal to about $6,000 based on average 2022 price ranges.

Driver awareness and training are key
Idling is usually a state that the driver has chosen to operate the vehicle in, so driver awareness and training are key. Telematics data collection, reporting, and driver coaching can all assist fleet managers in creating more sustainable and efficient fleets. Perhaps, in the future, electric and driverless vehicles will become a solution to this problem.

Taking all, or even some of the actions described in this article can help reduce idling and fuel consumption. Monitoring idling with Lighthouse can help you understand how effective those actions are.

AttriX team specialists, certified in energy optimization by the Department of Energy and Natural Resources, offer training and coaching to help you identify cost reduction opportunities and establish an effective strategy to achieve your goals.

For more information about AttriX coaching, please contact Didier Tassel at 438-337-5057 or by email at dtassel@attrix.ca. For more information about AttriX coaching, please contact Didier Tassel at 438-337-5057 or by email at dtassel@attrix.ca.