KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The new year ushered in the one millionth hour of use of IdleAire’s Advanced Travel Center Electrification (ATE) system.

"That million hours means IdleAire has saved approximately 1 million gallons of diesel fuel for truck owners," said IdleAire COO David Everhart. "That means we’ve also prevented approximately 10,400 metric tons of total diesel emissions from entering the nation’s air and we’ve hired 337 people in six states to manage and maintain those installations. It’s the same story everywhere we go, thousands of gallons of fuel conserved, air quality improved, better rested drivers and a lot of new jobs created."

Everhart said the company met its 2003 goal of signing fleets representing over 100,000 heavy-duty trucks.

"These fleets are encouraging these 100,000 drivers to use IdleAire system wherever possible. And this year we intend to make IdleAire much more available to those drivers. We anticipate breaking ground on another 25 installations immediately and as many as 150 more by the end of this year," he said.

More than 86,000 customer visits had been recorded to date and thousands of drivers have signed up as IdleAire members, which is not a requirement to use the system. Membership entitles a driver to additional benefits, such as incoming telephone calls in the cab and a free IdleAire e-mail account. Additional membership privileges under development include such services as in-cab wakeup calls, electronic banking services, voicemail, package delivery service and a range of additional benefits.

IdleAire Technologies Corporation was formed in June 2000 to develop a high quality, reliable system to deliver a wide range of convenient in-cab services that drivers would normally expect to have only at home. The services are targeted at improving driver comfort and lifestyle, while rendering idling of the truck engine unnecessary. IdleAire’s system provides 110-volt electrical outlets, filtered central heat and air conditioning, a Pentium-class computer with color touch screen, high-speed Internet and e-mail, both wireless and Ethernet connections for drivers with personal computers, a telephone connection and free local phone calls, premium satellite television service, movies on demand and driver continuing education, all delivered to the truck cab.

For more information, visit www.idleaire.com