LOUISVILLE, Ky. — After two years and some 300-400 customer interviews, Aux Generators has flipped the switch on its latest offering, the Idle Hawk.

Making the company the only manufacturer to offer a three-product line of generators, Aux’s newest model addresses every concern ever voiced about auxiliary units according to company president J.T. Bhabra. These include price, weight, reliability, ease of service and installation as well as reduced truck downtime.

“The Idle Hawk only has 90 parts versus the 200-300 used in previous designs,” says Bhabra. With an installed price of about US$5,500, he adds the typical payback time is about, “seven to nine months, we’re even blowing our own products away with that.”

Switching to a direct drivetrain, coupled with the simplified design, results in a dramatic reduction in breakdowns and costly downtime.

Installation is done within one day, something the company says was crucial to achieve to attraction increased dealer interest. Previously, the standard was typically two days so for a dealership tackling the job wasn’t very attractive given the low return on the energy invested. Once installing the whole mechanism can easily slide open for 360-degree service access.

“You don’t even get your hands dirty,” says Bhabra. “This is the type of product that will finally get those bigger fleets to commit to using auxiliary generators.”

With availability still a few weeks away, the Idle Hawk’s arrival will be well timed to coincide with A/C season.

Thanks to the unit’s new Auto mode, Idle Hawk will cycle on and off during the course of the night running only when needed. Tied right into the temperature control, Auto mode will run either heaters or A/C as needed to maintain the desired in-cab environment.

This allows for fuel consumption to drop to about 0.09 gallons per hour (gph) from the company’s previous offerings, which clocked in at approximately 0.19 gph and 0.22 gph.

Aux has inked a deal with Paccar Parts, so almost any Peterbilt or Kenworth dealership is able to install of service the full line of generators.