IdleAire’s Advanced Travel Center Electrification (ATE) system has racked up one million hours of use, according to David Everhart, IdleAire’s chief operations officer.

"That million hours means IdleAire has saved approximately one million gallons of diesel fuel for truck owners," said Everhart. "That means we’ve also prevented approximately 10,400 metric tons of total diesel emissions from entering the nation’s air -- and we’ve hired 337 people in six states to manage and maintain those installations."
Everhart said the company met its 2003 goal of signing fleets representing more than 100,000 heavy-duty trucks. "These fleets are encouraging these 100,000 drivers to use IdleAire system wherever possible. And this year we intend to make IdleAire much more available to those drivers. We anticipate breaking ground on another 25 installations immediately and as many as 150 more by the end of this year."
Everhart said that more than 86,000 customer visits have been recorded to date and thousands of drivers have signed up as IdleAire members, which is not a requirement to use the system. Membership entitles a driver to additional benefits, such as incoming telephone calls in the cab and a free IdleAire e-mail account. Additional membership privileges under development include such services as in-cab wakeup calls, electronic banking services, voicemail, package delivery service and a range of additional benefits.
IdleAire’s system provides 110-volt electrical outlets, filtered central heat and air conditioning, a Pentium-class computer with color touch screen, high-speed Internet and e-mail, both wireless and Ethernet connections for drivers with personal computers, a telephone connection and free local phone calls, premium satellite television service, movies on demand and driver continuing education, all delivered to the truck cab.
"This simple solution allows drivers to turn off their trucks and still stay comfortable," Everhart said. "If deployed nationwide it could allow us to conserve up to an estimated 3 billion gallons of diesel fuel each year, remove up to 50 million metric tons of pollution annually, may create 12,000 new jobs and potentially save the transportation industry $5-6 billion in fuel and maintenance costs annually."