Just found out how much fuel a big rig burns at idle

I was reading a fleet maintenance report from a shop in Omaha yesterday. It said a typical Class 8 truck burns about a gallon of diesel per hour just idling. I always thought it was way less, maybe half that. That adds up to over $3,000 a year if a truck idles for 8 hours a day. I used to let my personal truck warm up for 20 minutes every morning without thinking about it. Now I'm cutting that way down. What's the shortest warm-up time you guys aim for in cold weather?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo5678d ago

Totally see this with other stuff too. We let things run on autopilot without knowing the real cost. For my truck, I just give it a minute or two to get the oil moving before driving gently.

rosethompson8d ago

Did you know some mechanics say modern engines don't need that warm-up time, @leo567? I read an article where an engineer explained that idling too long can actually cause more wear because the oil takes longer to reach full operating temperature. They said gentle driving right away warms everything up faster.