Heavy Duty Trucking, June 2018

FUEL SMARTS HDT JUNE 2018 34 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM executives at the carrier decided the time was right to seriously look at CNG as an alternative fuel Today less than a decade into its look at CNG it powers 90 of Sheehys trucks Weve still got a few diesel trucks in the mix Myers says But weve slowly but surely been acquiring CNG powered units since it became clear the fuel would work well in our applications Even though the spotlight fell away from CNG after diesel prices stabilized and returned to more normal levels a few years ago CNG technology and infrastructure kept right on evolving and expanding Myers says which has made Sheehys steady conversion to the new fuel surprisingly painless The national CNG network is extremely stable today he says This means that we Sheehy has found that over the past decade an expansive CNG fueling network has sprung up making it easier for its drivers to find fuel throughout the fleets operating area enjoy stable fuel prices as well They dont fluctuate much if at all and are holding steady around 199 a gallon and we wont have to deal with the usual Memorial Day price increases other fleets will as refineries switch over from winter to summer blended fuel formulations Even better over the past decade weve seen an expansive CNG fueling network build up which has made it easier for our drivers to find fuel no matter where they are in our area of operations Driver acceptance and training has been a concern for some fleets considering a switch to CNG But Myers says Sheehy received very little pushback as it began to move to the new fuel in earnest In fact today he says Sheehy executives consider CNG a secret weapon in the current driver shortage crisis We never had any major resistance from our driver force he says In fact many of our drivers most of whom have been with us 20 years or more prefer CNG over diesel Thats because the trucks are much cleaner to fuel with no spills mess or odors and tend to ride better he says Weve tweaked our automated manual transmissions to deliver more low end torque The trucks still dont have as much get up and go as diesel powered units but our drivers have gotten used to that New drivers are still a bit hesitant when they first get behind the wheel of a CNG truck But usually it becomes a non issue for them as well very quickly CEO John Sheehy notes that while operating costs are about neutral compared to diesel the fleet enjoys a return on investment from CNG that is simply out of reach for fleets running conventional fuels We mainly measure our CNG ROI in terms of being good stewards of the environment and the preferential treatment we receive from our customers he says Myers echoes this sentiment Sheehy saves a lot of money on fuel he says We also routinely win awards for being a green fleet and protecting the environment receive tremendous good will from our customers and the communities we serve And we have happier drivers with less turnover So for us CNG has been a win on multiple fronts Fuel prices highest since 2014 The average price of a gallon of diesel fuel in the U S hit more than 315 in early May and was much more than that in many parts of the country reflecting a trend toward higher prices that has been building since February Global crude oil prices have been on the rise caused by increased tension in the Middle East and by the U S ending its nuclear deal with Iran The U S split from the Iran deal could mean increased sanctions on the nation which could reduce the oil supply by as much as 500000 barrels of oil per day according to a Marketwatch report In addition Saudi Arabia recently signaled its intention to try to push crude oil prices back up to around 80 per gallon SAE recommendations for electric truck charging The Society of Automotive Engineers developed a recommended practice for plug in charging of medium and heavy duty electric vehicles The new standard was designed to offer a single vehicle charging coupler solution for three phase and single phase AC and DC charging SAE approved a new three phase coupler for plug in charging of electric vehicles dubbed the J3068 Electric Vehicle Power Transfer System along with the organizations recommended practice for plug in charging of such vehicles J3068 was developed in a consensus process by SAE Internationals Medium and Heavy Duty Vehicle Conductive Charging Task Force Committee www sae org Case study library features clean fuel tech info A new case study library allows fleet owners interested in clean fuel technologies to compare results from independent testing performed by peer companies in a standardized format Ikea PepsiCo and UPS are among the fleets that have provided information on fuel technology pilots in their road fleets for the library published by global nonprofit BSRs Future of Fuels initiative Fuels tested include renewable diesel compressed natural gas and electric www bsr org FUEL IN THE NEWS PHOTO SHEEHY