IdleaireMy first impression without trying it was that the big yellow hose was a vacuum sucking money out of drivers wallets. Now that I’ve actually tried it, I was right, but there are some advantages.  I like parking in an Idleaire space because no one around idles and during nice weather we like to sleep with the windows and vents open. At least they’ve done one thing right.

I decided to try it because even without idling, the APU makes a lot of noise and I was tired of the attendants coming up and harassing me every time I parked. Now I have the little adapter and can pretend to have it. There are two different plans (gold and silver) and a lot of ways to spend more money. At $2.18 ($1.85 for fleets/gold) an hour you can have hot or cold air, basic cable TV and 110v electric outlets. But for more money you can have high speed internet through their ethernet or wireless connections more TV channels and movies on demand and a land line telephone. (Here for a list of services)

Two bucks an hour doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up if you’re there for 12 or 24 hours. For $48 sometimes you can get a decent hotel room with a bathroom and more TV channels. When I signed up at the TA in Jessup, MD, I had a long conversation with the attendant about the service and the company. I’ve been to Jessup before and the parking lot was tight. But now, the parking lot seems like there would be fewer spaces, but the attendant said it’s the same number of spaces and it’s safer to pull in and back out at a 45 degree angle instead of backing in a tight space. I’d probably agree with that, because after I’ve been driving all night I’m really too tired to be messing with backing in. Pulling in a space is a lot easier and they always have plenty of room to back out. In Jessup there were only about a third of the Idleaire spaces designated as No Idling and they tried to enforce it. The $10 for the window thingy and a little money in my new account counted towards the paid parking at the TA, so it wasn’t a total loss. At least at Jessup, after every truck leaves, the attendants go to the space and run the unit to clean it out because it will pick up the smells like cigarettes from other trucks. That would really turn me off from ever using it!

The factory says my APU burns about .6 gals an hour. It may be more when we have the microwave or skillet plugged in or the A/C or heat on high. You can hear the motor rev up. But lets use .6 just for fun. At 12 hours and the last National Average was $2.811, that’s $1.6866 an hour. My truck says it burns 0.7 gals an hour, (other models can burn more) but there’s wear and tear and your oil change doesn’t last as long etc, etc… Idleaire has a several page list of fleets that pay for your charges. So, it must be worth it for someone.

The final decision will have to be up to the individual truck owner. If I’m going to be stuck for a day or two, I’d rather get a motel room. When the weather is nice, I like the idea of a place where no one idles. I might still use it once in a while and I have switched to the gold plan for the fleet price and discounts on everything else. I’m still checking it out and haven’t really made up my mind completely on it yet. How long did Park ‘n View last? Anyone remember? How often does anyone else use IdleAire and how do you like it?