MONTREAL, Que. — Alain Dube, president of Transports Du Cam Pro, has announced that equipping his fleet with Willis APUs has extended engine life, reduced his fuel bill and pleased his drivers.

Dube has been running Willis APUs on five of his trucks for less than a year so far. The Montreal-based specialized furniture hauler recently purchased two more units and is planning on buying five more units in January.

The fleet manager decided to equip his trucks with the APUs because many U.S. jurisdictions are restricting diesel engine idling. Now, the carriers drivers can remain comfortable while the truck is shut down.

"The Willis APU is providing our fleet with many benefits," Dube said. "A major concern for us was how much air conditioning and heating the APU could generate for the comfort of our drivers. The Willis APU provides much more A/C and heat through the cab and sleeper than other units. The drivers also like them because the Willis APU’s three-cylinder engine is quieter and more efficient than the other units we use."

Dube also insisted the APUs are saving wear and tear on the fleet’s Cat C-15 engines.

"I was told by Cat that for every hour the engine doesn’t idle, you save the equivalent of 45 miles on the engine. Instead of trading our trucks at the end of five years, we’ll be able to operate them another two to three years without having to rebuild the engines," he added.

He estimated the fleet will achieve a payback time of two and a half years, based on reduced fuel consumption. Currently, about 30 of the 55 trucks in Transports Du Cam Pro’s fleet are equipped with APUs. The trucks average about 120,000 miles per year.