Tuesday, June 03, 2014

Plug 'Em Up

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While we were up in Maine parked at Dysart's Truck Stop, we discovered they had shore power.  They had seven TSE pedestals, and all of them were open for use.  We hooked up immediately.

We love using shore power.  Everything in the sleeper runs effortlessly, it's quieter than the generator, and it costs less than using diesel fuel.  At this place, the fee was only $1.00/hour.  I found a promo code online and with the discount, it came to $0.92/hour.  A smokin' deal.  This location's pedestals were provided by Shorepower Technologies.

This company has quite a few locations but this is the first time we've used them.  In the past, in our old truck, we tried IdleAir, which also eliminates the need for idling and also provides Internet and DirectTV, but we hated it because the tubes that hooked up to the windows always smelled disgusting.  Like cigarette smoke.  I complained to IdleAir several times about the problem, but nothing changed.  So a smoker that's sitting in his truck sucking on cigarettes for ten hours, winds up polluting my air.  They never designated certain spots "non-smoking", but it wouldn't matter since the smoke-laden air gets sucked up into the tubes to the main unit.  Then the next unsuspecting person gets to have it pumped into their clean, fresh-smelling truck. We never used it again after those first few times.

With fuel prices the way they are, and have been for the past ten years, and which don't seem to be going down anytime soon, I'd like to see these Shorepower Technologies pedestals at every truck stop.  Does anyone else use shore power for their trucks?

For us, the option of shore power would serve me far better than reserving a parking spot for the night.




~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2013:  Following The Sound Of Beating Wings

2012:  The Shoe Guy
2011:  Sitting In Style In Shipshe
2010:  
An Artesian Well Of Material
2009:   Asparagus Can Never Be Asparagi, But I Can Be Delicious
2008:   Tis The Season To Be Lazy
2007:   Go Brainiac.com
2006:   Flowers And Hand Painted Art
2005:   You Don’t Know What It’s Like

3 comments:

Gil said...

I know people that use shore power for their boats and campers to save on fuel costs. Also, to cut down on the noise from the generator.

Gary Goulette said...

We have 30 Amp shore power in our sleeper, our Onan generator is new and quiet - So noise isn't the issue. I like hooking up to shore power to lengthen the time before a generator oil change is due ( I do them myself). I probably sound like an elitist, but I can't wrap my head around the fact that soooo many idle for sooooo long for comfort ! Heat in the winter or coolness in summer.

I seriously could NEVER drive a truck without an APU or Generator / Roof Air , or bunk heater.

Hope to see more of these units installed at truck stops.

The Daily Rant said...

GIL: This place, Dysart's, also has a marina and they use the shore power there too. It seems the boat industry has been years ahead regarding the shore power. I wish we had more locations to use.

GARY: Our generator is fairly quiet too, can't even hear it running if you're more than 20 feet from the truck. And inside, with the air going, you rarely hear it. But, when the a/c clicks off, when we're on shore power, it's soooo quiet. Eeerie. LOL I don't know how people idle either now that I have the APU. We used to idle in the old truck, before all the idle laws became so strict, but I don't know how guys sit in their trucks on hot days without idling if they don't have an APU. I would tell my company to go scratch. And I'm with you - I wouldn't want to be in the truck if it didn't have a generator.