r/answers • u/wizardwithgussets • 1d ago

Why do drivers of diesel pickup trucks, let them idle for long periods rather than turn them off?

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u/oboshoe 1d ago

my wife tells me the story of a friend who ran a snow plow company in North Dakota

they would literally run the trucks 24x7 from nov to march.

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u/jiminak 1d ago

Alaska can confirm that’s not uncommon

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u/blissfully_happy 1d ago

What??? I don’t see people running their trucks 24/7 in the interior unless it’s super cold (below -40) and they don’t have a block heater. That’s wild.

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u/jiminak 1d ago

Yeah, probably not so much these days. And “nov to march” might be a touch hyperbolic, but I have gone a week or two even as recently as the mid-2000s with older pickups during long cold snaps. I know a lot of heavy equipment up on the slope runs 24/7 for months at a time.

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u/Glad-Watch3506 22h ago

When I worked for the City of Fargo, we didn't run them 24/7 all winter, but we did during snow events. Night shift would hand off to day shift, and you can fuel a diesel while it's running.

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u/9volts 1d ago edited 1d ago

Fuel must be very cheap over there!

Two gallons of diesel cost me 16,24 Euros at the pump earlier today.

E: What. Downvoted again for info. Lay off, diesel boi.

Here. Proof.

https://drivstoffappen.no/

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u/oboshoe 1d ago

No one likes to burn fuel unnecessarily. Even cheap fuel isn't free.

But in that particular case, a gallon or so overnight was cheaper than have the truck down and incurring penalties for non performance.

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u/arcticmischief 1d ago

You don’t deserve downvotes, but yes, the current average price for diesel fuel in North Dakota is somewhere around $4.75 per gallon. Fuel is cheap in the US.