Trends


IDLING FLEETS WRITTEN BY SEAN GALLAGHER | SEAN@STNONLINE.COM School Transportation News reached out to transportation


directors and supervisors to gain insight into the topic of idling. More than 200 respondents steered STN towards the trend that most fleets are now required by local or state rules to idle for no more than five minutes.


A benefit of these policies is that operational costs have been drastically decreased, with more than 85 percent of responses pointing to this tendency. Michelle Ramm, director of trans- portation for Burnet Consolidated Independent School District northwest of Austin, Texas, reported that the district idling policy hasn’t even been instituted for a year and she’s already seen vast


On average, how long do your buses idle?


Who


instituted and enforces the anti-idling policies?


Have


operational costs


increased or decreased as a result of anti-idling policies?


improvements to her fleet. “We have seen a decrease in fuel, A/C repairs and other repairs,”


she said.


A majority of the replies stated that fuel consumption has been cut due to the reduced idling times, yet only a small percentage of directors and supervisors said they use GPS or telematics to track idling or fuel consumption. Mark Engen, transportation director for West Aurora SD 129 in Illinois, said his district has utilized technology to monitor idling. “Making certain drivers are aware of their time while the bus is idling. We have it programed to shut down after 10 minutes,” he said. ●


Do you use


GPS/telematics to track your idling/fuel


consumption?


1-5 minutes — 40% 5-10 minutes — 29% 10-15 minutes — 18% 15+ minutes — 4% No idling — 2% Other — 8%


District — 74% City — 1.5% State — 14% Other — 9.5%


Increase — 15% Decrease — 85%


Yes — 27.5% No — 72.5%


18 School Transportation News • JULY 2016


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