Anheuser-Busch Distributor Unveils New Propane Autogas Delivery Trucks
Southern Eagle Distributing purchases alternative-fuel vehicles for Charleston fleet to lower costs, carbon footprint.
CHARLESTON, S.C., (March 7, 2018) — Southern Eagle Distributing, one of the oldest continual Anheuser-Busch distributorships in the United States, has purchased two propane autogas vehicles to reduce both emissions and costs.
“Southern Eagle Distributing has adopted propane autogas technology to reduce our overall emissions and create a more environmentally friendly and green fleet,” said Jim Henderson, vice president of operations for Southern Eagle Distributing. “We care about and support our local communities and want to impact them positively. A less polluting fleet benefits everyone.”
The trucks will be used in Charleston, South Carolina, to deliver over 600 beverage types including beer, soda, energy drinks, juice and water.
The two new Ford F-650 beverage delivery trucks are each equipped with a Ford 6.8L V10 3V engine with a ROUSH CleanTech fuel system. These propane engines are certified to 0.05 grams per brake horsepower-hour for nitrogen oxide. This engine is 75 percent cleaner than the current Environmental Protection Agency standard and 99 percent cleaner than diesel vehicles built before 2007.
A propane station with a 1,000-gallon tank is being installed at the company’s Charleston location to fuel the trucks. “Fueling onsite is more economical for us than mobile fueling,” said Henderson. “The refill station was a low entry cost for us.” The company is saving more than 40 percent on fuel compared with current diesel prices and expects to reduce maintenance expenses, too.
“By choosing propane autogas, Southern Eagle is reducing harmful emissions for its community and its employees,” said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for ROUSH CleanTech. “This domestically produced energy continues to grow rapidly in the transportation market as thousands of fleets experience the clean and economic benefits.”
Propane autogas is the leading alternative fuel in the United States and the third most commonly used vehicle fuel, following gasoline and diesel. More than 90 percent of the United States propane autogas supply is produced domestically, with an additional 7 percent coming from Canada.
Southern Eagle Distributing will test its first two propane delivery trucks this year. “We are optimistic that the test will be successful,” said Henderson “Propane autogas is easy to scale. We’ll continue to evaluate our fleet needs into 2019, and I’m hopeful we will be adding more propane units as we replace older units.”
Southern Eagle Distributing, originally known as Fitzgerald Ice Company has been in operation for over 100 years and is one of the oldest continual Anheuser-Busch distributorships in the United States. In 2018, Southern Eagle Distributing merged with Crown Beverages. We are excited about the opportunities this new partnership has brought to our employees, retail customers, and communities we do business in. While we are operating as one company, our local identities will remain as Crown Beverage and Southern Eagle Distributing. In total we will operate two facilities in South Carolina; Florence and Charleston, and five in Georgia; Savannah, Blackshear, Vidalia, Fitzgerald and Brunswick. The combined company will service over 5,700 customers and sell over 16,000,000 cases annually including beer, soda, energy drinks, juice, and water. To learn more, visit crownbev.com and soeagle.net.
About ROUSH CleanTech: ROUSH CleanTech, an industry leader of alternative fuel vehicle technology, is a division of Roush Enterprises based in Livonia, Michigan. ROUSH CleanTech designs, engineers, manufactures and installs propane autogas fuel system technology for medium-duty Ford commercial vehicles, and Type A and Type C Blue Bird school buses, and compressed natural gas fuel systems for Type C Blue Bird school buses. As a Ford QVM-certified alternative fuel vehicle manufacturer, ROUSH CleanTech delivers economical, clean and domestically produced fueling options for fleets across North America. Learn more at ROUSHcleantech.com or by calling 800.59.ROUSH.
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