Looked up the real cost of idling my truck during lunch breaks

Turns out letting my F-250 run for 30 minutes during a lunch break burns about a gallon of diesel, which adds up to roughly $1,200 a year according to a Department of Energy study I found last night. Anybody else actually calculate what small habits are costing them on the road?

3 comments

3 Comments

rubysingh8d ago

My buddy runs a oilfield service company with a whole fleet of F-250s and he did the exact same math and came back with a totally different number. He said idling those trucks for lunch is actually cheaper than restarting them multiple times because the glow plugs and starter wear out way faster with all the stop-start cycles. Plus he factored in that diesel engines actually run more efficient when they're warm so burning that gallon over lunch is saving you on wear and tear down the road. I mean maybe that $1200 figure is real if you're just sitting there but in practice most guys are idling because they need the AC or heat running anyway so that cost is baked into the comfort of having a mobile office.

harper_foster7d ago

@rubysingh you're missing that modern diesels have emissions systems that clog up fast from extended idling. A buddy's 6.7 got a $4,000 DPF cleanup bill because his crew idled through lunch every day.

terryw678d ago

Wait, so you're saying turning the engine off and on actually causes more damage than just letting it idle? Because I've been that guy for years who shut my truck off every time I stopped for more than a minute, thinking I was saving money and being green. But the starter and glow plug thing makes total sense when you think about it, especially with a diesel that needs to get warm to run right. My 6.7 Powerstroke always takes forever to heat back up after a cold restart, and I bet all that extra strain on the electrical system isn't cheap either. I guess the $1200 number is still real on paper, but it sounds like the real cost is a trade off between fuel and parts that most people don't consider. Honestly, this changes the whole way I look at idling now, I never factored in the hidden wear and tear.