STRONG NGV PRESENCE AT NTEA GREEN TRUCK SUMMIT AND WORK TRUCK SHOW

Natural gas abundance, fleet economics and truck options dominated the discussion at the National Truck Equipment Association’s (NTEA) Green Truck Summit (GTS) held in in Indianapolis, Indiana, this past Tuesday and Wednesday. The GTS, which was attended by approximately 450 people, was held in conjunction with NTEA’s Work Truck Show (WTS) that took place Wednesday through Friday. Tuesday morning, after opening remarks by NTEA staff and officers, Patrick Davis, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office addressed the group via webcam. While his remarks were fuel neutral, he made note of the growing recognition that natural gas work trucks will play an increasingly important role in the market’s mix of advanced transportation technologies. In the General Session that followed, Stephe Yborra participated on a panel of alternative fuel industry association representatives, where he outlined vehicle production and fuel sales data from 2012 and 2013 and offered his take on 2014 and some of the industry’s key issues. Next, Tom Saunders, Pioneer Natural Resources’ Director of Downstream Planning, and Peter Grace, Clean Energy’s Senior VP of Sales & Finance, further made the case for natural gas as a transportation fuel. In the panel discussion that followed, Bill Burns, Fleet Operations Manager for the City of Columbus and Steve Saltzgiver, VP of Fleet Operations for Republic Services, highlighted their fleets’ use of NGVs. Natural gas presentations were also featured in several of the afternoon breakout sessions. Wednesday morning’s General Session featured a panel of representatives from OEMs Ford, GM, Freightliner, Freightliner Custom Chassis, Hino, Navistar, Peterbilt, Kenworth and Isuzu, nearly all of whom reiterated their companies’ commitment to investment in natural gas platforms. Stephe Yborra also presented a WTS breakout session addressing maintenance facility modifications to accommodate CNG and/or LNG vehicles.

NGVAmerica and a number of members had exhibits on the WTS floor, and a number of NGVs were located throughout the expo floor and available to test drive as part of the event’s Ride-and-Drive.

Vehicles on the floor:
• IMPCO Automotive: 1.4L bi-fuel Chevrolet Cruze with 8.4 GGE of fuel storage
• IMPCO Automotive: 6.0L dedicated Isuzu NPR-HD Single Cab with tank offerings from 26 to 32 GGE
• Westport: 6.2L bi-fuel Ford F-250 with Quantum Type 4 tank
• Westport: 6.2L dedicated Ford F-250 bed-delete with 18 GGE in Faber Type 1 tanks;
• Freightliner: 11.9L Freightliner 114SD snow plow with 60 GGE in Agility Type 4 tanks
• G.A.S.: 6.8L dedicated E-450 pizza truck with 50 GGE in storage and natural gas generator
• Ford Commercial Trucks: 2.5L Transit Connect Taxi with 14.9 GGE storage
• Ford Commercial Trucks: 6.8L bi-fuel F-550 with Landi Renzo system and Xperion Type 4 tanks for 18 GGE in storage
• Ventures: 6.2L bi-fuel Ford F-250 with Altech Eco System
• Ventures: Bi-fuel Ford F-150 with 3M fuel tank
• GM Fleet & Commercial: CNG Express 2500 Cargo Van
• GM Fleet & Commercial: Bi-fuel Dodge Ram 2500 with 18.2 GGE in storage
• Kenworth: 8.9L T440 with Trilogy fuel system Vehicles at Ride-and-Drive:
• Freightliner: 8.9L 114SD NG up-fitted with vocational dump body
• International: 8.9L Workstar straight truck with an Agility fuel system
• Isuzu: NPR-HD low cab forward up-fitted with 14’ body featuring IMPCO CNG fuel system
• Kenworth: 11.9L ISX 12G T-800 straight truck equipped with a roll-off system
• Peterbilt: 8.9L Peterbilt 382 day cab tractor with two 45 DGE tanks

For more information about the NTEA’s Green Truck Summit, Work Truck Show and/or to download PDFs of presentations given there, visit www.ntea.com.