Willis APU Keeps Drivers Cool and Saves Fleets Cold Cash
 
SPARKS, Nev., Feb. 7, 2007 — Trucking companies no longer have to make an impossible choice: ask drivers to swelter in their sleepers or let them idle their truck engines to stay cool and pay record-breaking fuel prices or huge fines.
 
Will Watson, vice president of sales and marketing for Auxiliary Power Dynamics, manufacturers of the Willis Auxiliary Power Unit, said the Willis APU offers an alternative. It keeps truck drivers and their companies from being slapped with hefty fines for idling their truck engines since it offers cooling and heating capacity that’s among the highest in the industry, he added. Its three-cylinder, 18-hp Kubota engine makes it quiet, powerful and inexpensive to maintain.
 
By addressing driver comfort, fleets stand a better chance at keeping their good drivers or recruiting and retaining the best candidates, Watson said. Take the case of Walkerton, Ontario-based Little Rock Farm Trucking, which recently installed several units on their long-haul trucks.
 
John Reuber, maintenance manager for Little Rock, said his company considered getting some simple heating units to address driver comfort. “But after looking closely at the idling times on our trucks, we determined that our drivers spend a lot more time idling their trucks to stay cool than to get warm,” he added. “And I think installing APUs with the kind of capacity that the Willis APU offers will be important for recruiting and retaining the best drivers.

“Before we got the Willis APUs installed, our drivers were not only wasting a lot of fuel to keep warm or to stay cool, but they were also putting a lot of wear and tear on the truck engines,” he said. “By installing the Willis APU on our new trucks, our drivers can enjoy the same amount of cooling and heating capacity they got while idling their trucks, and our company can expect to get more longevity out of the truck engines.”
 
Watson said Little Rock Farm Trucking’s story offers a good reason why fleets should consider equipping their trucks with the Willis APU. Standalone units use their own ducting, often taking up valuable space from the driver and providing air from only one vent, he said. When technicians install the Willis APU, they hook up an exclusive fan drive system, which pulls an abundant amount of air across the truck’s large condenser and radiator through the truck’s own HVAC system ducting. So, the driver doesn’t give up valuable personal space and the air blows from all of the vents in the truck, not just one.
 
“That’s how the Willis APU can blow air that’s 40 degrees even when the temperature outside is over 100 degrees and the sun is beating down,” Watson said. “The Willis APU offers the highest cooling capacity in the industry, between 28,000 and 38,000 British thermal units or BTUs, because it’s integrated into the truck’s heating and cooling system.

“And because it’s integrated, drivers will get the same cooling capacity standing still as they would driving 60 mph down the highway,” Watson added.  

Watson said financing options are available, including a lease option that allows well-qualified fleets to get the Willis APU installed for little or no money down.

“Depending upon how much idling your drivers currently do, the amount of money your company will save in fuel costs may actually be more than your monthly lease payment,” he said.

Well-qualified fleets with certified technicians on staff may also be eligible to get Willis APU service training for those technicians so that they can install and service the APUs at the company’s maintenance facilities and avoid extended downtime, Watson said.

For more information about the Willis APU, including a list of certified installation sites, visit www.willisapu.com or call 253-638-3145.