The Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust settlement continues to move forward. Most recently, an agreement was filed with the courts, which is a good indication that we are coming closer to a trustee effective date. Once the trustee date is established, then a beneficiary for each state will be named, and mitigation plans can be developed for how the funding will be allocated and dispersed.
More school districts in Iowa are using propane to power their buses, which district officials say saves money and reduces emissions. Six of the nine route buses for the Manson Northwest Webster School District are propane-powered, The Messenger reported . The district has been adding propane-powered buses over the past seven years.
While many environmental concerns may feel too big to tackle, the issue of nitrogen oxides — and the threat they pose to clean air and water — is one problem every fleet owner can help alleviate.
Students will ride on quieter and cleaner-running buses this year that will save the district at least $50,000 in fuel costs. The city school district has replaced its fleet with 80 propane-fueled school buses, which will begin picking up students when classes start on Sept. 5, according to a release.
On Wednesday, August 16, 2017 Sierra Foothill Charter School took possession of a brand new, propane-powered 75 passenger school bus. After the bus is certified by the CHP and the school’s bus driver is trained, the new, clean energy bus will replace the 54-passenger diesel bus the school has been leasing from Merced Transportation since December 2012.
One of my favorite short reads is “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson. It deals with positively coping with change. The story centers around four characters who must adjust and adapt to the challenges they are faced with and move on to find happiness.
The ROUSH CleanTech 6.8-liter V-10, 3-V engine, equipped in Blue Bird Vision Propane buses, has the lowest NOx levels of any propane autogas engine in Class 4-7 vehicles. The engine is certified below the optional low NOx standard of 0.05 g/bhp-hr set by CARB. In terms of NOx emitted, for every one bus at the 0.2 NOx standard, there can be four buses on the road at the .05 level.
Did you attend our webinar, Leveraging .05g NOx Certification & Volkswagen Status Update? It provided an update on the Volkswagen settlement and how it affects you, the dealer. A new tool was introduced that shows the cost effectiveness of propane in terms of NOx emissions. This tool can help with your beneficiary outreach to make the case for propane school buses even stronger.
Last month, we celebrated Blue Bird’s 10,000th propane bus! We joined Fulton County Schools, the recipient of that bus, to host a press conference to get the news out. But this was no ordinary press conference. The school district already had a back-to-school event planned, and we needed to integrate the propane bus messaging — and gain media coverage.
In related Class 7 news, truck body builder Mickey Truck Bodies and alternative fuel system provider Roush CleanTech developed a propane-powered 2017 Ford F-750 side-load beverage truck with electric doors. It will debut at the BevOps Fleet Summit Sept. 19-22 in Phoenix. The propane-powered 6.8-liter engine emits less than 0.05 gram of nitrogen oxides per brake horsepower-hour, the companies said in a joint statement.
