Navistar says truck owners and fleets can reduce fuel usage, lower emissions and comply with new anti-idling laws with its new retrofit Fleetrite Auxiliary Power Unit.
“A Class 8 truck burns a little more than a gallon of diesel fuel per hour idling, and a long-haul sleeper idles around 2,400 hours per year,” says Ron Sandefur, vice president of aftermarket purchasing and products for Warrenville, Ill.-based Navistar Parts Group. “Figure in the high price of diesel fuel, and the result is a lot of wasted money.”
Sandefur says that with a Fleetrite APU, truck owners can reduce fuel usage to only 0.3 gallons of fuel per hour while idling, or up to 80 percent less than normal idle, saving fleets and owner-operators up to $8,500 a year and 1,920 gallons of fuel annually per truck.
The Fleetrite APU — powered by a 14-horsepower, 2-cylinder Caterpillar diesel engine — takes the place of the engine under the hood to efficiently provide driver necessities such as heat, air conditioning and power for electronics while the truck is idle.
A simple and nonintrusive design, the Fleetrite APU only uses the truck’s battery power and fuel tank to start and power its electronic system and run the engine, the company says. A 60-amp DC alternator charges the truck’s battery, while a 6-kW generator powers appliances and the engine-block heater. Mounted in the cabin of the truck, the control panel features a large LCD screen and easy-to-use single-touch menu functions.
Two California Air Resources Board-compliant Fleetrite APU models are available depending on the truck’s manufacture date. For 2007 or newer trucks, an APU model is available that requires a diesel particulate filter for CARB compliance.
