Although it wasn't exactly being stranded in Death Valley, I had my first real experience using the Freightliner ParkSmart HVAC technology today. I have of course "played" with it since receiving my Cascadia Evolution, but had yet to turn it on out of necessity. Let me tell you first hand, it rocks!
Being a previous user of an APU, I grew accustomed to maintaining a comfortable temperature inside my cab when not idling, typically during my loading and unloading duties. I was skeptical when I learned that this system used batteries to cool, under the assumption that it would not have the cooling power of my old APU. Boy, how wrong I was! We have had a sudden heat wave hit Southern California yesterday and today with temperatures in the nineties. I was off and parked early enough yesterday to escape the heat, but I was broadsided today in the hottest day of this weather event. As I pulled into a customer I knew would take at least an hour and a half to load me and not wanting to waste fuel idling, it was time to fire up the ParkSmart!
Once backed into the dock and idling for five minutes to allow my engine a proper cool down, I shut down my engine and with the push of a button and the twist of a dial, fired up the ParkSmart into cooling mode. Unlike my old APU, which was definitely a noisy beast, the ParkSmart started up with only a slight "hum" behind the cab. The quietness only fueled my initial speculation, as I thought surely this quiet thing could not battle the beaming 92o solar array wreaking havoc on the exterior of the truck. Wrong again! In conjunction with the awesome insulated curtains and internal insulation of the Evolution, this system kept it a comfortable 74o in the sleeper area of my rig. I was laid back enjoying my music in comfort while the hour and a half loading process went on.
Although I have not experienced this system in an overnight scenario yet, I can attest to its awesome power battling the beaming heat. My old APU used to struggle to keep up in the California summer heat. If you have the choice of this system as an option, I would highly recommend it! Not only does it work great, but it is virtually maintenance free. Unlike an APU, there is no coolant reservoir to top off and no engine oil to check. The absolute best part of this test was that not a drop of fuel was burned to keep me cool and comfortable!