美國11號公路沿線、接近卡萊索的賓州卡車休息區提供一項新服務，司機可以舒適地打盹和用餐，而不需要空轉柴油機來供應電力。IdleAire科技公司開發一套卡車電力系統，利用一條10美元的連接管線，將電力從拖拉機送到卡車上，足以維持暖氣、冷氣和其他基本電力需求，以往這些電力都靠空轉柴油發動機來維持。
八月上旬，賓州環保署長凱瑟琳‧麥金蒂（Kathleen McGinty）展開節能政策，以減少柴油顆粒排放量為目標；賓州環保署資助IdleAire公司4萬美元經費，以支持該公司在賓州啟用各種減少污染的設備。
麥金蒂表示：「這項科技不僅大量降低柴油污染、提供更安全的電力，還帶來可觀的經濟效益。」她說：「卡車發動機不再空轉，這大大改善空氣品質，又節省能源，為運輸業者省下大筆油費支出。」
IdleAire將一條軟管線從窗口伸進卡車前座，透過這條中央控制管線，司機可在車箱內享受過濾的冷暖空調、多種通訊方式和娛樂設備。整套管線架設只需短短幾分鐘，工作人員再和司機說明如何使用觸碰螢幕操作各種設施。
4萬美元環保署經費可補貼IdleAire安裝管線固定器（將管線固定在窗口的器材）和訓練初次使用者的經費。聯邦駕駛條例要求長程卡車司機每開車11小時必須休息10小時，若卡車利用IdleAire系統提供電力，估計每輛卡車休息10小時期間可減少234磅柴油排放量。
賓州共有72個全天營運的IdleAire卡車休息區，如果以每次休息時間10小時來估算，一天可以減少16,848磅柴油排放量。即使休息區一天只使用10小時，一年下來仍可減少620萬磅柴油排放，相當於賓州境內減少200萬卡車哩程的污染量。
When truckers stop for a meal and a snooze at Pennsylvania's Petro truck stop near Carlisle along busy U.S. Route 11, they can relax in comfort without spewing diesel exhaust into the air.IdleAire’s Advanced Truckstop Electrification technology provides heating, cooling and electricity to truckers who are resting. The system eliminates the need to keep rigs idling for hours at a time. The technology can be connected to the cab of a tractor-trailer using a simple $10 window adapter.
Earlier this month, Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty inaugurated the new energy saving system that keeps diesel emissions out of the air. The secretary presented IdleAir Inc. with a $40,000 grant to support the implementation of the pollution control equipment at other sites in Pennsylvania.
“This technology not only has measurable effects on pollution reduction and energy security, but it also provides significant economic advantages,” McGinty said. “Reducing truck idling helps to improve air quality and conserve fuel, saving money for long-haulers already faced with rising diesel prices.”
IdleAire provides filtered central heating and air conditioning, and a range of communications and entertainment options to the cab of a truck by a concentric hose with a service module that snap-locks into the vehicle’s passenger window.
Installation takes just a couple of minutes, and an IdleAire representative can show a new driver how to access various services via a color touch-screen interface in another few minutes. The $40,000 DEP grant will help IdleAire cover the cost of window adapters, the only equipment needed to connect the units to truck cabs, and training for first-time users.
Estimates show one truck hooked up to IdleAire equipment for 10 hours - which is the federally mandated rest period for every 11 hours a trucker spends behind the wheel - would eliminate 234 pounds of diesel emissions.
If all 72 IdleAire spaces at the Petro truck stop were in use for a 10-hour period, the system would eliminate 16,848 pounds of diesel emissions that day. The spaces are available 24 hours a day.
Over the course of a year, the 72 spaces used just 10 hours a day would reduce diesel emissions by 6.2 million pounds, which is equivalent to eliminating almost two million truck-miles from Pennsylvania each year.
