January 2019

Volkswagen Update: January 2019

More states have closed funding opportunities. Currently, 38 states have published funding opportunities representing $2.3 billion — with $132.7 million of that exclusively allocated for school bus replacement. Our highest applicant success rates have been when we work together to create a strategy for your state. Because, unfortunately, most of the current funding is going toward diesel.

As of January 2019:

Thirty eight states have final plans:

 Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana , New Jersey, North Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Nine states have draft plans:

Alabama, Alaska,Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota and Vermont.

Five states are still developing their plans and are accepting comments:

Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and West Virginia.

Please contact Chelsea Jenkins at Chelsea.Jenkins@roush.com to discuss how best to approach and plan for the next phase of VW Settlement (and other funding) opportunities in your state.

Visit www.roushcleantech.com/volkswagen-settlement for more information.

Three Things to Know About PSI’s Certification

Recently, PSI received California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification for its model year 2019 8.8L propane and gasoline engines. This means that IC Bus remains a key player and competitor in alternative fuel school buses with both Environmental Protection Agency and CARB certification. Here are the facts:

1. PSI’s current certification is to the federal standard nitrogen oxides (NOx) level of 0.20 g/bhp-hr.

 – By comparison, ROUSH CleanTech’s propane engine is certified for both low NOx at 0.05 g/bhp-hr and ultra-low NOx at 0.02 g/bhp-hr. That’s 75 to 90 percent cleaner than the federal standard PSI has obtained.

 – To get low-NOx certification, the engine must test statistically below the threshold. PSI’s result was 0.13g. Compare that to ours at 0.01g!

2. For model year 2019, CARB required PSI to do evaporative testing, which, for the first time, included the fuel tank.

 – PSI’s certification includes 47- and 68-gallon propane tanks only.

 – Our certification includes all fuel tank offerings: 47, 67 and 93 gallons.

3. PSI’s engines are certified on the IC Bus CE model, but also on the Freightliner B2 and S2G chassis. This may be a precursor for what we’ll see on the Thomas Built Buses C2 model.

It’s your success with propane that is keeping the competition in the game whether they want to be or not. We are the industry leader with complete and cutting-edge offerings.

If you have any questions or would like more information to combat the competition in your area, reach me at Ryan.Zic@roush.com.

Customer Spotlight: Amphitheater Public Schools

Customer: Amphitheater Public Schools
Interviewee: Marcela Arizpuro
Title: Director of Transportation and Food Services
Dealer: Canyon State Bus

Propane buses have been a tremendous success with Amphitheater Public Schools’ special needs students and families. The Arizona school district runs three Blue Bird Vision school buses, purchased from Canyon State Bus, on its daily special needs routes.

Marcela Arizpuro, the district’s director of transportation and food services, says that propane buses provide “Special Education student sensitivity” stemming from the buses’ quiet ride. She says that passengers appreciate the significant noise level difference between diesel and propane buses.

The district is reducing its carbon footprint impact to the environment, too. The Blue Bird propane buses will reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by over 1,000 pounds and particulate matter by nearly 10 pounds each year when compared with the 2009 diesel buses they replaced.

Additionally, the district is realizing significant fuel cost savings that come with adopting propane buses instead of diesel. According to Arizpuro, the district currently pays almost one dollar less per gallon for propane compared with diesel.

To fuel the buses, the district installed a 2,000-gallon tank propane station at their main transportation location. Arizpuro likes the flexibility and convenience of on-site fueling, and not having to depend on a propane provider to fuel the buses nightly.

Arizpuro sees more propane buses in the district’s future depending on the needs of the students and district growth.

Show Me the Money!

For 2019, we have a new sales incentive that’s all about increasing propane bus sales. For each quarter, the Blue Bird dealer salesperson who books the most new propane customers and the most repeat propane customers during that quarter will be awarded $2,500! If there’s a tie, the total prize is split.

This sales incentive aims to encourage and recognize individuals who are gaining traction in their market along with those individuals who have had tremendous success in their territories.

Contact your ROUSH CleanTech representative to learn more. Good luck selling propane buses!