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Managing Idle on the Road
My route is in a high traffic area. I have no choice but to have high idle.
You have no choice but to have higher idle than other traffic conditions however, you can still manage your idle and drive as efficiently as possible.
We have done comparisons on routes in these situations. The normal driver may have 22% idle times and insist they can do no better. We assigned a driver that has a reputation for lower idle to that same route, and there's consistently a difference of 3% to 10%.
How do they do it? - Through managing and anticipating traffic patterns. A high idle driver will stay on the gas pedal leading to a stoplight until they need to brake; the low idle driver will look ahead and simply coast to the light (which may turn green) without pressing the gas pedal and avoid idle altogether. The same management applies in heavy highway traffic. Speed up and stop in bumper to bumper, or just coast?
