Schneider National Inc., along with Webasto Products and Freightliner, are studying ways of reducing idling by heavy trucks in order to save diesel and help the environment.

The Department of Energy is providing the study partners with $105,000 to document the effects of installing cab heaters in Schneider big rigs. The companies will match the DOE funds.
The Webasto heaters Schneider is installing run on diesel fuel from the truck's tanks, but the truck engine remains off.
The heaters use less than 10% the amount of fuel that the trucks would use if they were idling.
The Wisconsin fleet operator has already installed 2,000 Webasto heaters in its rigs and plans to install another 10,200 over the next four years.
Trucking industry representatives estimate idling by heavy trucks consumes 1.2 billion to 1.4 billion gallons of fuel a year.