11.01 - Roads, Streets, and Park Goals

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r / Driving Tip from the Pros v %vork "oth ways as costs rise or fall. 0 Use freeways whenever you can.Studies have in a letter to Governor Arnold Schwarz- shown that stop signs,red lights and stop-and-go traffic consume enegger. Brown noted that prices of fuel and fuel more than almost any other negative factor or bad habit So construction materials are "very•volatile" and head for the freeway — state contracts should include a clause that and stay on it until you would allow retroactive adjustments. The abil- have to make a deliv- ity to receive higher payments would make ery or take a rest. contractors more willing to pay more to their subcontractors, including truckers. The state's . serious budget problems wouldn't seem to trucks do more than encourage this kind of change,but the associa- just move the truck. tion is hopeful. They also spin con- crete drums,pump off Idlin' away the fuel cement. lift pallets of Reducing°costs is one thing truck opera- bricks.blocks,bags and tors themselves can do, but look around and other supplies, run dig- you li see truck engines—not to mention those gets and man buckets, in ail types of construction equipment—idling and perform a myriad of LA wav when no work is being done.Much of this other tasks. So their it aunts and jobsites as trucks wait to load engines don't often shut and unload, while at fuel pumps, and while down. drivers take lunch or rest breaks or just stand But the truth is, around shooting the bull. Truck diesels burr* drivers go too fast, idle engines many times one-half to one sallon per hour, depending of* men ttteyre'dotng no work, rev them higher engine size and how fast the idling is set for* than they should,and in general blow any pos- How many hours a day,week or month do th6% Ale fuel savings out the stack. They do so engines in construction trucks idle, and how because they've never been told not to, or much fuel do they consume in this manner:' because they think it's what their engines need. alnd its it costing owners' or its wriaciWV.and their buddies do.And they No one seems to know for sure. For years rLa ,I.i•"_=dam m Well truck and engine makers said that construc- "They like to hear 'em idle," says Tom tion-truck operators didn't worry about fuel. McKellar. executive vice president of Dalton More important were long-term durability,reli- Trucking,a regional hauler of building supplies ability and productMn: The truck that carries in Riverside, Calif., and a CDTOA member. the most revenue-producing loads per working 'joeres something cool about letting the thing day is usually the best one. Thats, still largely :idle.and they get to leave the air conditioning true. but manufacturers say that owners have on.Most of them don't think about the fuel.and ,err.worr-ing about fuel use,and they want that cruckings a marginal business at best." ,e builders to help them do the saving. Dalton and other CDTOA members have Trouble is. manufacturers can't give them rules against excessive idling, according to much more than the efficiency already- built Brown.and Dalton is one of them. Its employ- into todays trucks and engines. Aerodynamic ee manual instructs drivers to limit warm-up designs popular with over-the-road trucks and cool-down time to berveen three and five don't do much for slower-moving vocational minutes.And."if a driN er expects to be stopped models, though they could for trucks running for more than three to four minutes.he should mostly at highway speeds. Electronic controls shut off the engine."the manual saySA '-elp the diesels squeeze fuel.though the latest Do drivers realh• do this? Some do, said models with more serious emissions-control McKellar,who did a quick survey of a few driv- equipment use more fuel than before. ers and supervisors in response to the question. And the engines in many construction "If the weathers hot.we keep'em idling"to run ConstructionEquipment.com Construction Equipment j October 2004