OTTAWA, (Oct. 17, 2003) — Natural Resources Canada’s second annual Quiet Zone: Your Idle-Free Area campaign got underway yesterday — encouraging truck drivers to turn off their engines while parked at truck stops.

The ten-week program — running from Oct. 16 to Dec. 19 — aims to reduce engine idling, resulting in less fuel consumption and decreased greenhouse gas emissions at selected Canadian truck stops by asking drivers to shut their trucks down in “quiet zone” areas.

The campaign was officially launched in Bairdsville, N.B.; Cardinal, Ont.; and Kamloops, B.C. Approximately 50 truck stops across Canada are expected to take part. Truck-stop owners who wish to declare idle-free zones in their parking lots will receive resource materials and promotional tools. In addition, informational material will be available for drivers.

NRCan, which contributed $138,000 to the campaign, will also be promoting devices designed to reduce unnecessary idling, such as separate cab heaters and/or air conditioners, and timing devices that turn engines off and on to maintain a pre-set coolant temperature or battery charge.

The government also announced this summer it will offer trucking fleets rebates of up to 19 per cent to a maximum of $350 on a cab-heater or a/c unit, and up to $1,400 on auxiliary power generators through its FleetSmart program.