SALT LAKE CITY — It's a 2.5-by-3-foot box attached to the side of diesel tractor-trailers that may transform idle time.
When they take breaks or sleep, truck drivers usually leave their engines running. They need diesel-powered engines to run air conditioning or heat. Engines can idle for 10 hours at a time, contributing to air pollution and costing on average $1 an hour in lost fuel.
New technology, however, allows drivers to cut the engines, yet still have the power for temperature control and other electronic functions inside the cab. On Tuesday, the state announced it has purchased the technology, called auxiliary power units, for about 30 trucks for about $600,000.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provided a grant of about $353,000, and the state is paying for the rest.
"Thirty trucks is obviously a small percent of the trucks passing through Utah," said Amanda Smith, executive director of the Department of Environmental Quality. "However, it's a new technology."
Smith believes auxiliary power units will become the norm in the future and the price will decrease. She said it's part of larger efforts the Division of Air Quality is making to clean up air along the Wasatch Front, especially during the winter.
"We have some unique geography here," said Gov. Gary Herbert, referring to how the mountains that encircle the state's valleys trap air pollution.
Herbert said that the technology will help clean up the air and help trucking companies save money.
"It's how we get goods around our great country and state," he said. "They don't just magically appear in our Safeways or in our Albertsons."
The units have a small "spaghetti fuel line" that pulls diesel from the fuel tank, said Mark McMillan of Thermo King Corp., which has offices in Salt Lake City but is based in Minneapolis. The units are manufactured in Hastings, Neb.
"They're quite labor-intensive to install, about 20 hours," McMillan said. "Our profit margin is probably 2 percent."
The units, combined with new 2010 engine requirements, will make trucks cleaner than ever, said David Creer, executive director of the Utah Trucking Association.
"Our industry is committed to helping the enviornment," he said. "We want to be good citizens."
e-mail: lhanccok@desnews.com TWITTER: laurahancock