Why do people who drive diesel trucks let them idle?

Question

I have never owned a diesel and I know they have glow plugs and need to warm up longer than a regular car, but is it really necessary (or even beneficial) to leave them running while parked. I regularly see these trucks idling outside of convenience stores and other businesses while the owner is inside.

I also see people start their trucks and let them idle for ages while they load them up.

SLS T · Accepted Answer

Diesel Trucks have a turbo which is oil cooled, if the driver runs the vehicle for a period of time and shuts the engine down without idling the engine for a period of 3 to 5 minutes it won't be long before they will have to change the turbo. This is very costly. Also if a driver lets the engine idle for a long period of time this will also damage the engine and also become a environmental problem. Most newer trucks have a engine idle shutdown installed, this automatically shuts the engine down after idling for 5 minutes

josephrob2003 · Answer

they are probably worried it wont start again, starting a big diesel engine can drain the battery,also giving them a chance to warm up,and this helps with defrosting the windscreen,Their engines run at lower temperatures than petrol, And the glow plugs do drain the battery

yanesh · Answer

they need a lot of power from the battery to start and so they prefer to let it idle

dkgroce · Answer

Starting a diesel engine is harder on it than letting it idle.

Anonymous · Answer

they use a ton of power to start...they are hard on starters and batteries..if they start and stop the motor all the time ,
it's not long till they won't start at all

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Why do people who drive diesel trucks let them idle?

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