Rising diesel and gasoline prices alongside other inflationary pressures, plus the pressure to cut emissions, could lead more fleets to embrace propane autogas versus other alternative fuels like all-electric, which comes with a bigger price tag. As prices soar at the pump to record levels, President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg continue to endorse electric vehicle adoption as a way to lower transportation costs and cut emissions.
For 15 years, Township High School District 211 in Cook County, Ill., has tracked transportation expenses with the Versatrans Fleetvision platform. Scott Prusko, who oversees school bus maintenance, says the data shows the district saves about $32,000 a year on fuel with its propane-powered buses compared to the diesel vehicles in the fleet.
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but have you started to dig in to understand how this can benefit the alternative fuels industry? There is a lot of money allocated for alternative fuels – and specifically for electric. But there is also money out there for propane and school buses are the main focus.
Propane autogas is a proven fuel of choice for fleets of all sizes. It’s powering more than 200,000 vehicles on the road in the United States and safely transporting more than one million students to school and home every day. School transportation departments, private contractors, and businesses are choosing propane autogas for these top five reasons.
The route to electrification is now going through the City of Los Angeles. The month the city’s Bureau of Street Services (StreetsLA) showed off a variety of vehicles and technologies it plans to employ to green the city not just with trees and bushes but also with green vehicles charged with renewable energy. The department opened its Center for Green innovation in the San Fernando Valley and showcased two plug-in hybrid street sweepers, a battery electric Class 6 truck and innovative solar charging to mark the opening.
ROUSH CleanTech attended the launch of the Los Angeles Bureau of Street Services’ Center for Green Innovation. The event took place on February 15 at the Center for Green Innovation’s North Hollywood Yard. The ROUSH CleanTech Ford F-650 battery electric truck was also on hand for the event. It was one of several zero-emissions vehicles StreetsLA introduced, including trucks as well as street sweepers, along with its planned green initiatives.
To hear David Mann put it, Schwan’s Home Delivery was green before it was fashionable to be green – all due to its commitment to propane autogas. Mann, Schwan’s Home Delivery’s senior director of fleet operations, says the frozen grocery delivery company has been using propane autogas delivery trucks since the 1970s. Back then, during the first U.S. energy crisis, company founder Marvin Schwan came to his fleet team and told it to find an alternative to gas and diesel.
“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants,” Henry Ford famously quipped, “so long as it is black.”
The Propane Education & Research Council shows how propane buses offer countless benefits for schools and their communities in this video featuringWa-Nee Community Schools. The school district’s 55 school buses transport about 70% of its student body. Eleven of them are Blue Bird Vision Propane models. Since 2017, the school district has replaced its aging diesel buses with propane buses with the goal to have a clean energy fleet. PERC’s president, Tucker Perkins, says that not only will school districts save $3,000 to $5,000 per bus, but also provide a cleaner ride — all by adopting propane.
Last year, ROUSH CleanTech’s battery electric truck participated in North American Council for Freight Efficiency’s “Run on Less” electric program, driving hundreds of miles in a variety of weather conditions, and never once dipping below a 20% state-of-charge on the battery. NACFE’s final study reviews lessons learned.
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