Petro Stopping Centers will become the first travel plazas in the United States to offer IdleAire's Advanced Travel Center Electrification system, which eliminates the need to idle the truck's engine while parked.

IdleAire Technologies made the announcement during the annual meeting of the truckstop group NATSO in Nashville.
Last August, IdleAire successfully installed and operated two commercial demonstration facilities at New York Thruway rest areas in Syracuse and the Hunts Point Distribution Center in the Bronx. These facilities are currently being expanded.
The first Petro ATE installations will be in Knoxville, Tenn., Atlanta, Ga., and West Memphis, Ark. Construction is expected to begin in April, with facilities operational at all three locations by mid-summer. These locations were chosen because of their close proximity to the IdleAire Technology Center in Knoxville. However, the company plans to build ATE facilities at travel centers all across the United States.
IdleAire's ATE system places individual heating and air conditioning units on an overhead truss above each truck parking space. Heat, air conditioning, shore power and other services are supplied via a flexible hose that connects the overhead unit to the service delivery module placed in the truck window or in a special port in the sleeper.
The ATE service module includes a laptop-type computer with 10.4-inch color touch screen used to control the heating and air conditioning unit and for accessing the Internet. ATE basic services also include a local telephone line in every cab, television, and Internet access with email and other services. Users also can purchase additional business and entertainment services.
Petro Stopping Centers, headquartered in El Paso, Texas, has 56 travel centers in 38 states.