Idealease revolutionizes fleet operations with ELEVATE®, our proprietary Driver Performance System that improves driver safety and saves fleets millions of dollars in annual operating costs.

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Q:

I operate in colder climates, so I’m forced to have more idle time in the morning, as a result of my truck warming up. How do I minimize my idle time in cold weather?

A:

See the conditions below on how the Electronic Control Module (ECM) recognizes idle time. During startup on cold mornings, the idle naturally comes in higher than 750 RPMs. Once the engine warms to a normal operating temperature, the RPMs will lower and the vehicle will begin counting idle time.

So yes, you can, and should, allow your vehicle sufficient warm-up time on those cold mornings. You will only register idle time if you do so for an excessive amount of time, beyond the normal engine warming period.

Both our engine manufacturers have complex explanations of idle time. But after combing extensively, we found it comes down to a few basic premises:

  1. The engine is on.
  2. No speed is detected.
  3. RPM is in normal idle range (generally defined as under 750).
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