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By Truckinginfo Staff

Greening a fleet can be a daunting prospect, but as fuel prices continue to rise, the opportunity to save money has increased. Significant and easily accessible funding is now available in California through the Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP)

Tags: California, Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, EVs, HEVs

By Truckinginfo Staff

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has directed city departments to build on earlier "green fleet" efforts to cut the city's annual use of petroleum-based fuels by 1 million gallons by 2020, using electric and alternative fueled vehicles, biodiesel and more efficient use of vehicles.

Tags: CNG, Government Fleets, Natural Gas, Washington, Seattle, Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Berg

Chicago has ordered 20 heavy-duty, electric-powered trash trucks that will be the first of their kind in the nation. The electric trucks will run almost silently, produce practically no emissions and, with no traditional pow-ertrains to fuel and maintain, will cut operating costs by at least 50%, says Jim Castelaz, chief executive officer of Motiv Power Systems.

Tags: Motiv Power, Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, EVs

By By Truckinginfo Staff

Renewable-fuel retailer Propel Fuels and biofuel maker Solazyme report good results from their 30-day pilot program of an algae-derived biodiesel, called Soladiesel.

Tags: Biodiesel, Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Propel, Solazyme

By Chris Brown, Business Fleet Executive Editor

From a frozen pizza company to neighborhood ice cream delivery, from a dry cleaner to a real estate business, these small fleets have been running natural gas-powered vehicles for years

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, LNG, CNG, Natural Gas

By Kate Harlow, Associate Editor

The old saying goes, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Life, or in this case, a landfill, gave DeKalb County, Ga., methane gas - so the Sanitation Department decided to make vehicle fuel. In 2009, DeKalb County, located just east of Atlanta, was experiencing the same economic frustrations and high fuel prices as the rest of the country

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, CNG, Government Fleets

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

The engine products of the joint venture between Cummins Inc. and Westport Innovations now dominate the existing, albeit small, market for natural gas trucks, but more are on the way from other sources, indicated manufacturer representatives during the American Trucking Associations' recent Natural Gas Summit

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, Shippers, CNG, LNG

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

There are only about 167,000 natural gas-fueled vehicles in the United States, according the head of a group that promotes natural gas as a vehicle fuel, but its abundance and cheap price is spurring so much interest that an almost overflow crowd turned up at the American Trucking Associations Natural Gas Summit, which began yesterday in Alexandria, Va

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, ATA, Alternative Fuels

Announcements about new natural gas engines, bi-fuel engines and aftermarket conversion systems are coming faster and faster

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels, CNG, LNG, Cummins

One of the key roadblocks to wider adoption of natural gas fuel by the trucking industry has been a lack of fueling infrastructure. In the past, natural gas was mostly an option only for companies that could return to a central fueling station each night.

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, CNG, LNG, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

The environmental and image benefits of being "green" and reducing dependence on foreign oil are among the reasons fleets are looking at natural gas fuel for trucks, but even the most diehard "green" fleet is still looking for a return on its investment

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels, CNG, LNG

Last year, food and fuel retailer Giant Eagle unveiled its first two compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations in the Pittsburgh area at its Beechnut Drive retail support and distribution center. The demonstration included a fuel-up of one of its brand-new natural gas-powered VNM daycabs

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Propane is no longer just for your backyard barbeque or the furnace and water heater in your rural home. It's an efficient and economical fuel that powers millions of vehicles overseas, and proponents in the United States say it deserves to catch on in a big way here

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Propane, Roush

A new report from Pike Research forecasts steady growth in the market for natural gas trucks and buses. Annual worldwide sales of these vehicles will more than double over the next seven years, the firm says, growing from less than 70,000 in 2012 to more than 180,000 in 2019

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels, LNG, CNG

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor and Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

Interest in natural gas as a fuel for commercial trucks has been rising, thanks to the low cost of the fuel, and the desire of fleets to be "green" and reduce dependence on foreign oil

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels, CNG, LNG

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor & Sven-Erik Linstrand, European Editor

Engineers at Volvo Trucks are exploring the possibility of using dimethyl ether, or DME, as an alternative fuel in North America, following successful field tests in Europe

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

More than half of large carriers say they are considering buying natural gas fueled trucks, but there are hurdles, according to a new study from Transport Capital Partners and ACT Research

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, LNG, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels, CNG

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

In 2011, the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel rose 7.1% year over year and 38% from 2006, federal data show. It more than doubled during the past decade, to 38.85 million cubic feet in 2011

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels, CNG, LNG

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

Interest is high in natural gas as a heavy-duty truck fuel. With a dollar per diesel-equivalent gallon differential, why wouldn't it be? Natural gas is likely to remain less expensive than diesel for the foreseeable future, and domestic supplies of the stuff are plentiful. Is natural gas a savior-in-waiting for beleaguered diesel buyers? Maybe, but here are six questions you need to ask before taking the plunge

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels, CNG, LNG

By Kate Harlow

In the August issue of HDT, we kicked off a series on "Natural Gas: What Fleets Need to Know." In addition to the features in the magazine, on this page we offer additional online articles and resources

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, Natural Gas, Alternative Fuels, CNG, LNG

By Rolf Lockwood, Contributing Editor

Amidst all the brouhaha about natural gas, the biodiesel option appears to have gone quiet. It still has a near-cult-like following in some quarters, but in the freight-transportation mainstream, biodiesel is a very small player at this point.

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

The world no longer seems concerned about "peak oil" (the idea that oil reserves are going to run out), and today's clean-diesel engines have addressed many environmental concerns about truck exhaust. Most industry experts believe conventional diesel fuel will remain the dominant fuel for commercial vehicles for decades to come

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

Kwik Trip, a convenience store and fuel chain with more than 400 locations in three states, is promoting liquefied and compressed natural gas as fuel sources to help increase nationwide adoption of LNG and CNG in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and other areas.

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

Is natural gas truly the fuel of the future, or is it just an overhyped niche? That's what many wondered in the wake of March's Mid-America Trucking Show, where it seemed nearly every press conference and OE booth had something to say about it

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

A chrome-plated exhaust stack emits a muted whoosh as this truck's turbine engine spins at tens of thousands of RPMs, drawing the curious among attendees at this ride-and-drive event in downtown Long Beach, Calif.

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

The momentum toward natural gas as a motor fuel has been building for several years, and we don't know how far it will take the national "fleet." Some people would like gas to be a major automotive fuel because it's comparatively clean and "green," domestically produced

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Commentary Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

When you've got everyone from oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens to the head of America's largest truckload fleet to President Obama himself stumping for natural-gas-powered trucks, it's easy to see why there's so much interest in this less-expensive, home-grown alternative to $4-a-gallon diesel

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Driver Tim Mabry eases his foot onto the pedal, and what appears to be a plain white Freightliner tractor moves ahead briskly, making only a faint whirring sound. We are being propelled through an industrial neighborhood in Rancho Dominguez, Calif., by an electric moto

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

BAE Systems is a multi-national company that says it has built HybriDrive electric powertrains for more than 3,500 transit buses in cities around the world, plus many thousands of straight diesel trucks for the U.S. Army. And it's developing hydrogen fuel cells and electric propulsion systems. So it seems to have strong credentials to design and market HybriDrive versions for Class 6, 7 and 8 trucks

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

Volvo's European Bio-DME project, which aims to assess whether there is a market for Bio-DME (Di-Methyl-Ether) for commercial vehicles, shows promise, the company says

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Steve Bouchard, Contributor

Heavy-duty trucks running on the same stuff as your backyard grill

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

Saddle Creek Corp., a nationwide third-party logistics provider based in Lakeland, Fla., is taking delivery of the first 40 natural gas trucks in a planned purchase of 120

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

Startup company Joule Unlimited Technologies announced it received $70 million from undisclosed private and institutional investors, and the company hopes this funding will bring it closer to a breakthrough in biofuel technology

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

San Francisco-based Veritable Vegetable is committed to being sustainable, from distributing certified organic fresh fruits and vegetables to using hybrids and fuel-saving strategies in its fleet of trucks. As the nation's oldest distributor of certified organic produce, Veritable Vegetabl

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Rolf Lockwood, Editor at Large

Once you start, the questions don't stop. Every answer begets another query. Sooner or later even some of the experts will pause, scratch their heads, and might even say something like, "Beats me.

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, DME, CNG, Natural Gas, Algae, Biodiesel, Fuel Cell

By Guest commentary Francesca Flynn

Billions of taxpayer 'stimulus' dollars have been directed toward the perceived savior of our environment and the economy -- anything "green," i.e., green jobs, green energy etc

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Nunlist, Associate Editor

Recycling waste is an integral part of sustainable living in both small-scale homes and large-scale industrial operations. Fair Oaks Farms, a dairy farm in northwestern Indiana, is taking this concept to a new level

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

What do an office supply store, a dairy processor, a flooring supplier, a beer distributor and a grocery retailer have in common

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Commentary Bob Strickland, Manager of Natural Gas Transportation, Alagasco

With the advent of hybrid cars, more and more people are rethinking American energy dependence and choosing alternative energy. While we still have a long way to go toward true energy independence, most of our gasoline and diesel vehicles could be replaced by vehicles fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG)

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

Hribar Logistics of Caledonia, Wis., added two Kenworth 440 compressed-natural-gas tractors to its fleet powered by the Cummins Westport ISL G

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Use of natural gas to propel vehicles seems to be gaining momentum as various advocates continue their efforts to promote it, and manufacturers prepare more products that use the clean-burning fuel

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids

By Tom Nunlist, Associate Editor

Ferrara Bros., a New York City ready-mix company, is helping to lead the concrete industry with compressed-natural gas-powered mixer chassis

Tags: Alternative Fuels & Hybrids