As a one time over the road trucker I couldn't agree with Dyna more.
Well said, Dyna!
Steven M Nelson
Willard Hay
http://citizenshipchronicles.blogspot.com/
Get UP! Get OUT! & GET INVOLVED!!!
Dyna Sluyter
wrote
I wrote Gary Schiff about the issue, and his attitude is
essentially that truckers should get out of the city.
First, let me apologize for our young Democratic Farmer Labor
endorsed Council Member; He is still a bit inexperienced and has yet
to fully appreciate the fine agrarian and working class traditions of
our party. Gary seems to look at flour mills and factories and see
condo conversions where we more experienced DFLers see jobs. Now of
course Gary's vision would be fine and dandy, but for the problem
that the citizens will have to work somewhere like those factories to
earn the money to buy his dream condos.
But if Council Member Gary Schiff and his fellow Council
Members really want to cut idling they should start by setting a good
example with our own fleet. Has not every citizen seen Minneapolis'
city vehicles idling for what seems like eternity?
Let's start with the big iron- we own a locomotive and
towboat powered by decades old diesels with no pollution controls
whatsoever. These are huge engines, with each cylinder as big as a
big diesel trucks whole engine, and they have at least 12 of those
cylinders. The 2007 truck diesels will emit less than one hundreth of
the fine particulates that the pre-emmissions controlled diesels of
decades ago did. Thusly our city's locomotive or towboat when idling
emit more fine particulates than a thousand idling 2007 diesel
trucks. And those big engines idle a lot- they're so hard to start
that as a general rule they are not shut off until they return to
their Port of Minneapolis home.
There are ways to clean up our city's biggest moveable
polluters. New locomotives cost over a million dollars and I hate to
think what a new towboat would cost. But several retrofit
technologies exist that could clean up these monster diesels. These
diesels engines are still produced, so it's possible to install much
of the latest pollution control equipment on older models such as
ours. Their are also several ways to reduce idling such as
"smart-start" technologies that start the engine up when it or the
cabin are getting too cold then shut the engine off again when their
warm again. Diesel or propane fueled heaters are also available that
much more cleanly keep the engines and cabs warm without idling.
Another option seen on many new passenger locomotives is a smaller
"pony" diesel generator that provides heat, lighting, etc. while the
train is parked allowing the much larger propulsion diesel to be shut
off.
How many diesel trucks does our city own? Hundreds, and many
spend as much time idling to keep the windows defrosted, radios
running, etc. as they do moving. Similar technologies to the really
big diesels are available such as diesel fueled heaters to keep cabs
and engines warm and isolation switches to allow one battery to power
radios and such while other batteries are kept in reserve to restart
the engine.
Several commentators have suggested that the facilities
served by great numbers of diesel trucks be required to install
devices like "Idleair" to cut down on idling. As owner of two of the
major destinations for big diesel trucks in our city, the Convention
Center and Port of Minneapolis, again our city should step forward
and set the example. Idleair is more suited to southern climates
where heat is more a problem that the cold we experience, so it would
be a questionable investment. However, just installing some 120 volt
plug ins at the truck parking areas of our city facilities would
allow truckers to plug in their engines, electric blankets and
heaters, etc. and shut off their diesels. These plain old electric
plug in's would work perfectly with the 120 volt cab electrification
systems now coming to market that are much more cost effective than
Idleair.
And last but not least, just putting some biodiesel or
ethanol in the appropriate fuel tanks will do a lot to cut vehicle
emissions too.
So Council Member Schiif, what say ye- are you ready to amend
your ordinance to truly clear the air rather than bash the blue
collar workers on wheels?
From Hawthorne, where our dairy's diesels provide living wage
jobs and fresh foods,
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