March 17, 2017
How to Deal with Idling: An article about the causes of idling, why it is detrimental and guidelines on how you can avoid or stop it.
Idling is a common problem in the workplace that often goes unnoticed because those who idle are not always obvious. The people who idle are the ones who do not want to be seen idling. They usually hide behind closed doors, in small cubicles or behind computer screens. This behaviour is very hard to detect and resolve, especially because the employees want to work as little as possible without being seen for what they really are doing, not working. There are many ways to prevent idling in your business and we have listed some of them below:
Hire people who fit your company culture
It may sound like an obvious one but hiring people based on their resume alone will not tell you much about their personality and character. You need to hire employees that will fit into your company’s culture. If you have a team that works well together, then when hiring new employees it is important to make sure they will fit in well with the rest of the team and contribute positively. Hiring people who fit into your company culture will also create a more positive environment where employees are also happy with
Idling is a problem that we all contribute to, but in order to fix it we must first understand why we do it. There are many reasons that people idle, and many of them are misconceptions. The main reasons for idling are to prevent the engine from stalling, to cool down the engine/vehicle, to keep the vehicle warm during cold weather and to wait for passengers or cargo.
The first reason is one of the worst ones. It is very easy to prevent your engine from stalling by simply changing gears and not riding the clutch. Doing this burns fuel unnecessarily and creates unnecessary emissions. In modern vehicles (especially diesel), idling for extended periods can actually damage the engine because its lubrication system works best when it is under load.
Idling for longer than 10 seconds uses more fuel than switching off then starting again! This is because of two things: 1) A cold start requires extra fuel and 2) When restarting you will be driving off meaning you will be saving fuel in order to compensate for the extra fuel used during start up.
If you’re waiting for passengers or cargo, turn off your engine if you’re going to be waiting for more than 5 seconds (or switch on Economy Mode). This applies even when you’re waiting
Idling is a common problem for many school buses, and can be particularly damaging to the environment. Idling is defined as the state of the engine running while the vehicle is stationary, whether it is in motion or not. Although idling may seem harmless to some, it can be directly linked to health problems, a waste of energy and fuel, and damage to your vehicle.
Health Problems:
A list of possible health problems that could arise from exposure to exhaust fumes include, asthma attacks or irritation of the nose, throat and lungs, as well as eye, nose or throat irritation. Children are especially vulnerable to these ailments because they breathe faster than adults do and their bodies are still developing. Breathing air with higher concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) can cause fatigue, vomiting or headaches.
Environmental Effects:
Exhaust fumes contain a mixture of pollutants including NO2, CO and soot particles that come from diesel engines. The UK Government has categorised both NO2 and CO as pollutants that have an adverse effect on human health. These gases contribute to air pollution which can lead to acid rain, smog and climate change. It only takes a couple of minutes for exhaust fumes to reach lethal levels in confined spaces such as
There is a significant amount of evidence to suggest that idling while stopped in traffic, or while parked, is detrimental to the life of your vehicle. Idling causes accelerated engine wear, increases fuel consumption and transmits more pollution into our environment.
As well as being harmful to the life of your vehicle and our environment, idling can also present a safety hazard. For example, if you are idling in a truck stop for an extended period of time, carbon monoxide can build up and enter the cab through air vents. This can make you feel dizzy and sleepy, which is clearly dangerous if you need to get back on the road.
Idling wastes fuel. A car’s engine uses more gasoline at idle than it does at highway speeds. Most modern vehicles consume about one gallon of gas per hour when idling. If a truck driver were to idle for 10 hours every day for a year, that would be equal to about 3,650 gallons of diesel fuel wasted — enough to fill nearly four tanker trucks!
Idling results in unnecessary emissions. Diesel engines emit many harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), hydrocarbons (HC)
It is always tempting to think about the potential future impact of an idea when you first come across it. The more impactful the idea, the more we want to act upon it immediately. But this can often lead us to make rash choices that are not in our best interest.
This is especially true for ideas with a large potential downside. When we become aware of a new risk in our lives, our natural instinct is to do everything we can to avoid it. But what if taking action will actually increase the risk rather than reduce it?
When faced with this scenario, many people choose to remain inactive, even though inaction may be just as risky as action. The problem with inaction is that it often carries a cost. If we learn of a new risk in our lives, but fail to take any action to mitigate that risk, we may find ourselves unprepared if an unexpected event occurs.
For example, let’s say you know that your car needs an oil change and you put off getting it because you are busy at work or home and don’t have the time. Then one day while driving on the freeway at night your car breaks down and you are stranded in the dark with no cell phone reception or anyone nearby to help you out of your predicament.”
