Cummins Westport, a joint venture of Cummins and Westport Innovations, announced its first major order for C8.3G Plus natural gas engines in a truck application.

Specialty Solid Waste & Recycling of Santa Clara, Calif., has ordered 20 of the engines for new Xpeditor refuse and recycling trucks for house-to-house service. Delivery is scheduled to be completed before June 2002.
Specialty operates 40 refuse haulers, including 36 diesel-powered vehicles and four with Cummins Westport C8.3G engines acquired just before the introduction of the C8.3G Plus in June 2001. The 20 new natural gas trucks will replace 20 older diesel-fuelled trucks.
"The 280 horsepower Cummins Westport C8.3G Plus is an ideal, low- emissions engine for house-to-house refuse collection," said Guff Muench, president of Cummins Westport. "We anticipate increasing interest from solid waste management fleets in this technology, especially in areas like Southern California, where regulations are beginning to prohibit the purchase of new diesel-fuel refuse trucks."
The Specialty fleet collects trash and recyclable material in Sunnyvale, Calif., about 50 miles south of San Francisco. Sunnyvale, a city of 132,000, is not affected by Southern California's diesel fuel restrictions but has a local community policy of introducing natural gas vehicles for municipal operations to reduce pollution and dependence on imported oil.
"The switch to natural gas is intended to improve air quality and minimize the community's exposure to diesel exhaust," said Jerry Nabhan, General Manager of Specialty. "Over the next few years we expect to continue to replace our diesel trucks with natural gas trucks."
The Cummins local distributor responsible for this Xpeditor order is Cummins West of San Leandro, Calif. The trucks are supplied by Oakland Truck Center, a local Xpeditor dealer.
The Xpeditor, a popular refuse truck, is currently manufactured by Volvo Trucks North America. Volvo is selling the Xpeditor truck business to Grand Vehicle Works Holdings, LLC of Highland Park, Ill.