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Talk of the Bay

'Idlebuster' may bust gas-guzzling waste

By SCOTT BARANCIK
Published May 22, 2006

Want to help America kick its oil habit? Forget biofuels, hybrid cars and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

An Odessa manufacturer claims its invention could reduce U.S. fuel consumption by 350-million barrels a year, cut annual fuel costs by $42-billion and keep truckers cool as they doze at rest stops.

The hitch? We'd have to install its 420-pound "Idlebuster" in each of the country's 4-million long-haul trucks, says a news release issued last week by Florida Manufacturing Group.

We're partway there. Owner and co-inventor Al Wiseman says his company has sold or leased 425 units since August.

Grandiose statistics aside, Idlebuster is, like its competi-tors, a useful product. Many truckers idle their engines during rest stops to power an air conditioner, TV or other device. It's a wasteful practice that runs afoul of local no-idle laws meant to limit noise and pollution. Idlebuster powers the same items using one-eighth the fuel, Wiseman says.

So even though it costs a hefty $7,000, or $300 per month to lease, Wiseman says the device more than pays for itself - thus, the $42-billion savings to truckers and their employers.

Assuming it performs as promised, the Idlebuster should sell itself. But in the noisy American marketplace, where gazillions of news releases are issued every nanosecond, it can pay to pump up the numbers.

[Last modified May 22, 2006, 05:07:08]