OTA Outlines Complete Funding Plan for Natural Gas Transition

The Ontario Trucking Association has issued a report entitled Natural Gas as an Alternative Fuel for Canadian Truck Fleets: A Roadmap Toward Implementation” to assist the Government of Ontario in the design of a heavy truck natural gas program. The Government of Ontario has committed $250 million to the commercial trucking industry towards investment for technology to reduce carbon emissions from heavy trucks, but one outstanding issue is when the funds will be available and under what conditions.

One of the key technologies government and industry intend to focus on as part of the program are natural gas vehicles, and the report examines the two broad areas where investment dollars are required from fleets to make the transition to natural gas vehicles: (1) vehicle and station costs and (2) ancillary costs. While vehicle and station costs are well understood, ancillary costs and challenges – such as management time for fleet transition evaluation; required facility upgrades; driver training and other change management expenses – are less understood.

“These ancillary expenses can make up to 10 percent of the overall cost of switching to natural gas vehicles,” said OTA president Stephen Laskowski. “Without assistance and funding in these critical areas, fleets can easily become frustrated, making a successful conversion to natural gas vehicles less likely.”

OTA is already calling on the Government program to fund up to $60,000 per natural gas vehicle to offset the cost differential of a diesel engine. Furthermore, OTA says the government should provide carriers with access to the same incentives given to fuel suppliers to build fueling stations, as carriers may wish to install and operate private stations for their own fleet.

The study commissioned by OTA and conducted by the Rustbelt Group estimated the vehicle and infrastructure cost for a 20-truck fleet would be $3.4 million while the ancillary costs would come in at $325,000.

Requests for a copy of the study should be made to OTA’s lak.shoan@ontruck.org