Westport Innovations announced that Southern Counties Express has placed an initial order for 50 Kenworth LNG T800 Class 8 trucks, which will start container movement service at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach over the next few weeks.

The order represents a value of approximately $4 million for Westport's LNG heavy-duty engines and fuel systems. The trucks are being purchased with financial support from the San Pedro Bay Ports' Clean Trucks Program, an initiative led by the Port of Los Angeles, the Port of Long Beach and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The LNG trucks were assembled at Inland Kenworth in California.
"As one of the first port operators running clean trucks using domestic LNG fuel, Southern Counties will be making a significant contribution to the San Pedro Bay Ports' goal of reducing harmful particulate matter, NOx and greenhouse gases in the Los Angeles basin," said Brian Griley, SCE CEO.
The order follows a test of an LNG truck retrofitted by Clean Energy for active application in the harbor drayage environment, according to the company's "Green Fleet" web site: "Through this experiment, we have confirmed that the LNG retrofitted truck has the same power and torque of a diesel truck. The LNG powered truck has been able to pull every container we have sent it to pick up. Additionally, we have determined that the fuel economy is very close to that of a diesel engine and the engine runs quieter and emits less odor due to the elimination of diesel exhaust."
The Green Fleet division of SCE has been in the making for over two years. It is a program designed to implement alternative fuel, heavy duty trucks into SCE's fleet. The Green Fleet will begin operation with LNG trucks owned by SCE and leased to owner-operator independent contractors. The 50 new LNG trucks will complement SCE's existing fleet of approximately 150 trucks.
Nine other port trucking firms have also committed to the new LNG trucks in the initial port deployment. Westport expects to conclude purchase agreements with these fleets over the next few weeks now that funding approvals from the Ports and the City of Los Angeles are in place.