Talking to a fellow trucker the other day & he tells me he has been advised to turn the truck off @ traffic lights. . . This could lead to all sorts of problems 
Whats yer views on this
depends on how long the engine is going to be off for, too short a period, and it will use more fuel by restarting it than it would actually save
Weāve just had a bonus scheme Introduced , the mpg they want is 10.95 for the whole fleet of 19 artics and 10 rigids we donāt run at full weight and do the odd backload , do any of u reckon this is achievable
I applied for a job at Keyline doing their HIAB work a couple of years ago now, the manager stated at interview that all trucks are fitted with telematics and no truck was supposed to idle more than 30 mins per day, if that occurred a āblack markā went against the depots name from head office,( so presumably the manager would lose his bonus ?, who knows ) his advice when stuck in heavy traffic, was to put the P.T.O in, whilst in stationary traffic thus fooling the computer that the crane was being used for off loading, needless to say i turned that job and any other Travis Perkins jobs down.
largebloke1969:
Weāve just had a bonus scheme Introduced , the mpg they want is 10.95 for the whole fleet of 19 artics and 10 rigids we donāt run at full weight and do the odd backload , do any of u reckon this is achievable
depends on what truck it is, what type of trailer, the weight and the route
too many variables to say
when you say 10.95 for the whole fleet, is that āaverageā for the fleet or each vehicle MUST achieve that?
I would have thought it would cause more problems in the long run, I always leave the engine running for about 2 mins after to let everything wind down and get some oil into the turbo while its still spinning down.
ivor biggin:
Talking to a fellow trucker the other day & he tells me he has been advised to turn the truck off @ traffic lights. . . This could lead to all sorts of problems
its illegal 
for one and two if he was a good truck driver who planned ahead, he wouldnāt be stopping at any traffic lights! 
we had all this bs at STOBRATZ until ā ā ā ā from crick couldnāt start his engine in the middle lane of the m6 between 18 and knutsford svcs and all the traffic had disappeared! 
Iām inclined to agree with the cooling down of the engine 
Fatboy slimslow:
ivor biggin:
Talking to a fellow trucker the other day & he tells me he has been advised to turn the truck off @ traffic lights. . . This could lead to all sorts of problemsits illegal
is it?
can you post a link to prove your comment?
I always thought it was a good idea to idle the engine for a couple of minutes before switching it off.
It prolongs the life of the turbo.
ivor biggin:
Talking to a fellow trucker the other day & he tells me he has been advised to turn the truck off @ traffic lights. . . This could lead to all sorts of problems
Itās a no no. Even on your driver cpc you will be told that you should not be switching off your engine at traffic lights. In fact, one company I went to work at has all kinds of posters from the department for transport in the drivers room regarding safe driving, switching your engine off when on your break etc. Iām sure there is one that says YOU MUST NOT SWITCH YOUR ENGINE OFF AT TRAFFIC LIGHTS.
Isotrak measures fuel consumption and idling. The way to beat Isotrak and get a 100% driving style is to roll up to traffic lights rather than stop at them, although. This annoys the hell out of me. You drive for 4 hours from London to Liverpool, you get off the motorway and get stuck behind a fella who wants to stop 50 metres behind the traffic and trundle up to it when sometimes after driving for that long I want to stop and have a stretch or a rest even if itās only for 30 seconds.
The other things are highlighted above regarding the engine settling down oil wise and the fact that starting the engine up uses more fuel than probably you would save idling for 2 minutes.
In fact, Iād get the department of transport number and get them to send your transport manager the posters (they are free) and then get whoever told you to switch your engine off to save fuel into trouble for preaching without actually knowing what they are talking about.
Was going to say the the same as Spankyā¦
Drove a merc rigid recently. every time i stopped and put hand brake on and in neutral it stalled, or so i thought, then started on touching the clutch,
Quick read of the manual found it had stop/start fuel saver
andy187:
Was going to say the the same as Spankyā¦
Drove a merc rigid recently. every time i stopped and put hand brake on and in neutral it stalled, or so i thought, then started on touching the clutch,
Quick read of the manual found it had stop/start fuel saver
i know someone who has a bmw car with this featureā¦anyway,it was`nt working,so he took it back to the dealer.
apparently,the problem was caused by the battery not being charged enough,due to the car only being used for short trips into town etc.
he was advised to give it a decent run now and then 
so in order to save fuel,he must use more fuel
commonrail:
andy187:
Was going to say the the same as Spankyā¦
Drove a merc rigid recently. every time i stopped and put hand brake on and in neutral it stalled, or so i thought, then started on touching the clutch,
Quick read of the manual found it had stop/start fuel saveri know someone who has a bmw car with this featureā¦anyway,it was`nt working,so he took it back to the dealer.
apparently,the problem was caused by the battery not being charged enough,due to the car only being used for short trips into town etc.
he was advised to give it a decent run now and then
Iāve drove lots of āstop/startā technology cars, and the 1 thing they all have in common, the function is only active under certain circumstances, battery charge level and engine temperature are taken into account.
So, if the battery doesnāt have enough charge or the car isnāt upto a certain temp, then it wonāt switch the engine off - imagine constantly starting an engine on choke to save fuel? - even a modern diesel engine has a form of choke, if you drive a truck that shows mpgās, put it on to the instant mpg screen and start the engine, itāll show around 7-8 litres per hour when cold, and around 2 litres per hour when hot. They show litres per hour instead of miles per gallon at tickover.
reckon it wonāt help the starter or the batteries in the long run,.cars with stop start systems have beefed up batteries and a starter to cope ā¦
shuttlespanker:
depends on how long the engine is going to be off for, too short a period, and it will use more fuel by restarting it than it would actually save
I love it when people spout this ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā . If you actually thought about it yourself for a second youād realise it is ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā too.
largebloke1969:
Weāve just had a bonus scheme Introduced , the mpg they want is 10.95 for the whole fleet of 19 artics and 10 rigids we donāt run at full weight and do the odd backload , do any of u reckon this is achievable
Easily. I used to do tanker work for Arla foods. Iād run 44 tonnes down to Kenysham from Holme on Spalding Moor, spend an hour using the PTO to pump out the tank and then drive back empty and average >12MPG for the run.
You do need to modify your driving though and it would be advisable for them to send you on an economic driving course.
Fatboy slimslow:
ivor biggin:
Talking to a fellow trucker the other day & he tells me he has been advised to turn the truck off @ traffic lights. . . This could lead to all sorts of problemsits illegal
No it isnāt otherwise cars with stop start systems wouldnāt be allowed.
shuttlespanker:
largebloke1969:
Weāve just had a bonus scheme Introduced , the mpg they want is 10.95 for the whole fleet of 19 artics and 10 rigids we donāt run at full weight and do the odd backload , do any of u reckon this is achievabledepends on what truck it is, what type of trailer, the weight and the route
too many variables to say
when you say 10.95 for the whole fleet, is that āaverageā for the fleet or each vehicle MUST achieve that?
Xf 105 460s and Merc eyesores 18 tonners yes itās an average over the whole fleet. But we havenāt been told wot bonus we be getting oh and their normal 45 ft curtainsiders, and itās mostly multi drop work
Our buses switch themselves off after 3 minutes!!!
Gone are the days of getting in 15 minutes early and starting up your bus, then going into office for tea/paperwork and comming out to a warm bus.
Like most things, I donāt think it was thought out very well. Take the recent cold weather, I get into work at 4am, supposed to leave the garage at 4.10am, but my bus windows are iced over and the company donāt supply de icer, so have to sit there for about 20 minutes waiting for the de misters to warm up!!! Result= leave yard late, have to miss out part of route and company gets fined by TFL.