Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/139399
Cover Story By Tom Kelley Shorepower Pedestal Installation in Lebec, California, Powers Up and Completes I-5 Corridor Truck Drivers Can Now Drive Corridor's Full Length Without Idling a Single Night T ruck drivers can now drive the entire length of U.S. Interstate 5 between Seattle and San Diego and parallel State Route 99 in California and get restful sleep without idling the truck engine, running down batteries or firing up an APU. Shorepower Technologies recently completed the installation of power pedestals and held a grand opening at the Pilot Flying J Travel Plaza in Frazier Park/Lebec, Calif. Interstate 5 through California, Oregon and Washington and parallel State Route 99 in the San Joaquin Valley now becomes the first interstate corridor in which truck drivers can use just shore power during rest periods to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer, while also running all of their "hotel loads." Because it parallels Interstate 5, truckers often use portions of California State Route 99 near Bakersfield and Fresno and in southern San Joaquin County to avoid congestion on U.S. Interstate 5. State Route 99 also passes through the center of the San Joaquin Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. The Pilot Flying J Travel Plaza in Lebec joins five other truckstops and travel centers equipped with Shorepower Technologies pedestals in California, three in Oregon and one in Washington. Lebec is 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Seven of the 10 Shorepower Technologies locations also provide connections to 480-volt power for hybrid-refrigerated trailers, (eTRU). The Shorepower Technologies locations join other truckstop electrification (TSE) sites along the I-5 corridor. See below for a complete listing. "I-5 was the first of 10 interstate corridors targeted for increased availability of this anti-idling technology," said Alan Bates, vice president of marketing for Shorepower Technologies. "Now it becomes the first freight corridor in the nation where drivers can travel its entire length and get relief from high fuel / Owner operator/July 2013 / / 40 OO 0713 edit 40 6/5/13 10:13 AM