Skip to Content

Environmental Division - Environmental Policy Office


Truck Stop Electrification (TSE) Technology Grants
James K. Polk Building, Suite 900
505 Deaderick Street
Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0334
Phone: 615.741.3655

Alan Jones, Manager

Truck Stop Electrification (TSE) Technology Grant Project

A study conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute, with support from the EPA, found that long-haul truck drivers idle their engines from six to 10 hours per day on extended trips. A typical long-haul truck is on the road for an estimated 250 to 300 days per year, resulting in average annual idling between 1,500 to 3,000 hours per truck. Since an idling truck uses about a gallon of diesel fuel per hour, extended idling nationwide wastes as much as 3,000 gallons of diesel per day, and idling trucks emit more than 500 tons of NOx each day nationwide.

TDOT has established the Truck Stop Electrification Technology Grant project to help reduce extended truck idling in Tennessee. This competitive grant project addresses avoidable idling of heavy-duty truck engines through the use of stationary idle reduction technologies that can be connected to the truck to provide cab comfort and other services that would otherwise require operation of the main drive engine.

TSE technologies assist long-haul truck drivers who must comply with federal hours-of-service regulations by providing cooled or heated air to truck sleeping berths while reducing driver exposure to harmful diesel exhaust. Drivers typically have no choice but to idle their truck engines for several hours to keep the cab comfortable for sleeping. The use of TSE technology allows truck drivers to turn their engines off, save fuel and money, and reduce air emissions while staying comfortable in the truck cab. Providing truck drivers with alternatives to idling at truck stops in key freight traffic corridors will also have an immediate positive impact on local air quality by reducing diesel exhaust emissions.

TSE Grant Opportunity

TDOT is requesting competitive grant applications from truck stop owners and truck stop electrification vendors to purchase and install TSE technology at selected locations along interstate highways and in areas with high levels of truck traffic. Funding for this grant project is provided by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (ARRA) through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) National Clean Diesel Campaign. TDOT will use this grant funding to assist eligible applicants with purchasing and installing TSE technology at selected truck stops located along Tennessee interstates.

TDOT intends to use the EPA grant funds to help establish additional electrification technology at intervals along the interstate system and across the state. This ARRA grant will pay up to 100 percent of the costs of purchasing and installing TSE technology. Matching funds from truck stops are not required, but will strengthen applications.

The resulting interstate network of TSE-equipped truck parking spaces will reduce unnecessary idling, which in turn will save fuel and money, reduce vehicle emissions, help protect the health of truck drivers and the public, and reduce dependence on petroleum.

Priority areas for locating TSE facilities are described in the application materials available below. In short, air quality nonattainment areas, interstate interchanges, and areas with high levels of truck traffic are generally priority locations. TDOT will also ensure that truck stops selected for grant awards are regionally distributed along interstate corridors.

Application information may be downloaded at the link below. The deadline to submit TSE grant applications is closed. Questions regarding TDOT's TSE grant project or the TSE grant application should be directed to linda.tidwell@tn.gov.


For additional information:

  • SmartWay Transport Idling Reduction

www.epa.gov/otaq/smartway/transport/what-smartway/idling-reduction.htm

  • EPA’s Verified Idle Reduction Technologies (see Electrified Parking Spaces)

www.epa.gov/otaq/smartway/transport/what-smartway/verified-technologies.htm#eps

  • EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign

www.epa.gov/otaq/diesel/index.htm

  • U.S. Department of Energy Idle Reduction Web page

www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/vehicles/idle_reduction.html