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United Parcel Service (UPS) CNG Truck Fleet: Final Results
8/1/2002
In cooperation with UPS, a selection of Freightliner CNG delivery vehicles from the company's original 1996 order were evaluated as part of the U.S. Department of Energy/National Renewable Energy Laboratory (DOE/NREL) Truck Evaluation Project. The plan for this evaluation was to test as many as 15 CNG package delivery cars and 3 diesel package delivery cars operating in the Hartford, Connecticut area from UPS's Waterbury, Hartford, and Windsor facilities. This report included a technical review of data collected for the UPS CNG package delivery car operations in Hartford and Waterbury, Connecticut, compared with UPS diesel truck operations in Windsor, Connecticut. The objective of this project was to provide transportation professionals with quantitative, unbiased information on the cost, maintenance, operational, and emissions characteristics of CNG as one alternative to conventional diesel fuel for heavy-duty trucking applications.
Authors: Chandler, K.; Walkowicz, K.; Clark, N.
Resource Guide for Heavy-Duty LNG Vehicles, Infrastructure, and Support Operations
3/1/2002
This Guide is designed to assist decision makers and fleet managers, in considering the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in heavy-duty vehicles. The objective of the Guide is to answer questions regarding implementation of LNG fuel in the fleet, e.g., getting started, likely costs, benefits, and lessons others have learned. This Guide also provides you with contact information for representatives of companies now using these fuels, manufacturers and suppliers of the fuels, and technical and governmental reference materials. The information in the Guide is intended to be useful for both new and existing end-users of heavy-duty LNG vehicles, so that operations can be initiated or conducted in a cost-effective manner with minimal disruptions related to the new fuel technology.
Authors: Chandler, K.L.; Gifford, M.T.; Carpenter, B.S.
Alternative Fuels in Public Transit: A Match Made on the Road
3/1/2002
As alternative fuels compete with conventional fuels for a place in public awareness and acceptance, one of their most visible applications is in public transportation. Vehicles, particularly buses and shuttles, that carry people in large numbers, stand to gain much from using alternative fuels. Such high-demand fuel users can help sustain a fueling infrastructure that supports private autos and other smaller vehicles.
Children's Exposure to Diesel Exhaust on School Buses
2/1/2002
In the United States nearly 600,000 school buses transport 24 million students to school daily. Each year buses travel 4.3 billion miles as children take nearly 10 billion school bus rides. If rides average 30 minutes in each direction, students will spend 180 hours on buses each year. Collectively, U.S. children spend 3 billion hours on school buses each year. More than 99 percent of U.S. school buses are powered by diesel fuel. Diesel exhaust is comprised of very fine particles of carbon and a mixture of toxic gases. Federal agencies have classified diesel exhaust as a probable human carcinogen. Benzene, an important component of the fuel and exhaust, is designated to be a known human carcinogen. Components of diesel exhaust are genotoxic, mutagenic, and can produce symptoms of allergy, including inflammation and irritation of airways. There is no known safe level of exposure to diesel exhaust for children, especially those with respiratory illness. This study concludes that the laws intended to control air pollution in the U.S. must be strengthened to protect the health of children in several important respects. First, fixed monitoring facilities do not capture the variability in air pollution experienced by children. Second, air quality inside buildings and vehicles is not regulated by the EPA. Third, tougher diesel regulations adopted by the EPA last year are insufficient to protect health. Fifth, routine emissions testing for school buses is not required by federal law.
Authors: Wargo, J. Ph.D.; Brown, D. Sc.D.
UPS CNG Truck Fleet Final Data Report DOE/NREL Truck Evaluation Project
10/1/2001
This is the final data report for the United Parcel Service compressed natural gas (CNG) truck fleet evaluation project in which selected Freightliner CNG delivery vehicles were evaluated as part of the DOE/NREL study. The plan for this evaluation was to test up to 15 CNG package cars and three diesel package cars operating in the Hartford, Connecticut, area from UPS's Waterbury, Hartford, and Windsor facilities. The trucks were all Freighliner Custom Chassis built with Cummins engines. The diesel vehicles had B5.9 engines, and the CNG vehicles had B5.9G engines. The data collection for the DOE/NREL program required a minimum of 12 months of operations data. Based on the age of the CNG and diesel package vehicles (model year 1997) and UPS's extensive data tracking system, the actual evaluation provided here was chosen to be a two-year data evaluation period.
UPS CNG Truck Fleet Start-Up Experience Alternative Fuel Truck Evaluation Project
8/1/2001
UPS currently operates 140 Freightliner Custom Chassis compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered vehicles with Cummins B5.9G engines. Fifteen are participating in the Alternative Fuel Truck Evaluation Project being funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Transportation Technologies and the Office of Heavy Vehicle Technologies. DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is conducting the study in collaboration with federal and state agencies and industry partners such as UPS.
Alternative Motor Fuels and Vehicles: Impact on the Transportation Sector
7/10/2001
This document is the testimony given by Jim Wells, Director of Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. General Accounting Office, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. The statement discusses the extent of alternative fuel vehicle acquisition and fuel use, some of the barriers inhibiting greater use of alternative fuels and vehicles, and the federal tax incentives used to promote the use of alternative motor fuels and vehicles in the U.S.
Future U.S. Highway Energy Use: A Fifty Year Perspective
5/3/2001
The U.S. Transportation system as a whole and the highway mode in particular will be much different in the year 2050 compared to today. The type and number of vehicles in use and the fuels employed to power them are unknown. Yet planning for the future requires acting on the information at hand: assessing the implications of the current path and the potential benefit of alternative futures. This paper puts transportation energy issues into a long-run perspective so that informed planning can begin early enough to make a decisive difference. This paper examines the global oil supply and demand over the next 50 years to show that a transition away from conventional oil will begin. The analysis reviews the energy, economic, and environmental implications of the alternatives that are available to meet some of the anticipated gap between world conventional oil production and the liquid fuels required to support a growing world economy. This paper then describes several U.S. Transportation technology strategies with a range of efficiency improvements and fuel substitutions, and calculates their first order effects on energy use, petroleum consumption, and carbon emissions over a 50-year time horizon.
Authors: Birky, A.; Greene, D.; Gross, T.; Hamilton, D.; Heitner, K.; Johnson, L.; Maples, J.; Moore, J.; Patterson, P.; Plotkin, S.; Stodolsky, F.
Notes: This report is available on the Office of Transportation Technologies (OTT) Web site at http://www.ott.doe.gov/facts/publications/hwyfuture.pdf
Taking an Alternative Route: A Guide for Fleet Operators and Individual Owners Using Alternative Fuels in Cars and Trucks
4/1/2001
DOE has prepared this guide to help you determine whether your fleet is covered by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) and the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct), and to provide information on available alternative fuels and vehicles. With this information, fleets can shorten the time it takes to improve air quality and pave our nation's road to energy independence by using AFVs certified to meet EPA's Clean Fuel Fleet standards as well as the mandated EPAct requirements.
