Work Truck Show Illustrates Major Strides for Propane Autogas

Last month’s Work Truck Show and Green Truck Summit in Indianapolis was a great platform to demonstrate how far the propane autogas industry has come in the past few years. The news at the event that textile and rental supply company AmeriPride purchased 20 propane autogas-fueled Roush CleanTech Ford F59 delivery trucks served as just one example of the progress autogas has made, as did Alliance AutoGas’ announcement that the Ford Transit 3.7L engine conversion to propane autogas is in development and was expected to go in for EPA certification this year. Those were just a part of propane’s exposure at the Work Truck Show, which saw record attendance of more than 11,000.

Tucker Perkins, chief business development officer for the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), remembered that the propane industry in recent years could talk about taxis, pickup trucks, and some vans at the Work Truck Show, which is an event geared more toward the medium- and heavy-duty truck market. But the industry did not have any medium-duty trucks or beverage delivery vans to feature at the show. That’s a much different case now.

“I think back about three to four years ago, and we were clearly trying to establish credibility,” Perkins said. “Now we have credibility, and we’re just trying to continue to enhance it.”

PERC’s activity at the show was an indicator of propane’s increased movement in the medium-duty market. Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Freightliner, and Roush CleanTech discussed propane products with PERC at the event, but Perkins noted that various additional companies met with council staff at the show about future partnerships.

He added that PERC in recent months has been talking less about competing with natural gas and more about how propane compares to diesel and gasoline. The propane industry’s alliances with well-established companies such as Freightliner and Ford in the medium-duty arena have boosted propane’s status in those discussions. The fact that AmeriPride is moving to propane vehicles reinforces to other industries that large companies see propane as a better alternative to diesel and gasoline.

The AmeriPride deal is also significant because it’s the first major propane partnership announcement since gasoline and diesel prices fell so steeply. But propane prices fell as well, so the positive comparison to gasoline and diesel did not change much. Fleets often have a herd mentality. They don’t want to be alone. When fleet after fleet chooses propane, that makes it easier for the next fleet to choose it as well.

“We’re happy that Roush CleanTech and Ford got a nice deal, happy that a company with an impact of AmeriPride chose it, and we’re happy to announce it at that show so other fleet managers can take comfort in it too,” Perkins stated.

Alliance AutoGas’ notice at the Work Truck Show that the Ford Transit 3.7L engine conversion to propane autogas was in development was important because the Transit is a significant vehicle in the commercial fleet segment. Perkins noted that getting that product out in the marketplace is a good move because it is well-engineered, EPA-certified, and distributed throughout the country. Blossman Services Inc., a subsidiary of Blossman Gas Inc., is the equipment distributor for Alliance AutoGas. Blossman Services president Ed Hoffman told BPN in an interview following the Work Truck Show that the Transit, which replaced Ford’s E-Series vans, will be a revolutionary vehicle in the medium-duty arena for the next eight to 10 years. He noted that the E-Series had been a key vehicle in that segment since at least the early to mid-1980s and has been a significant propane autogas product because of its high use among fleets for delivering packages, transporting passengers, and many other applications.

“The Transit product is the new updated version of that, so we knew we had to be part of that evolution,” Hoffman stated. The Transit will be the first “plug-and-play” conversion to be installed by Alliance. Hoffman noted that plug-and-play in this case means no wire cutting is necessary. “Everything is unplugging one component and plugging ours in. So there’s no need for any type of advanced wire cutting or soldering skills. It’s simplicity and more consistent quality. With our solution you basically unplug one wire, one harness plug. Ours plugs in and you’re ready to go. No multiple connections are needed.”

In addition to the AmeriPride/Roush CleanTech and Alliance AutoGas/Ford Transit announcements, propane made its presence known at the show in various other ways. PERC held a training session at the Green Truck Summit, which took place the day before the Work Truck Show. PERC’s event was a forum for fleet managers and other propane users to share their experiences with prospective customers. Presentations took place in multiple classroom settings throughout the day. In one session, representatives from Freightliner, Roush CleanTech, and Blossman Gas spoke about their propane vehicle offerings.

Bill Davis, director of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC), spoke about “Prepping Your Shop for Alternative Fuels” and included LPG, CNG, LNG, and hydrogen. Lynn McLean, president of McLean Consulting & Associates, who works with the Flint, Mich. Transit Authority, made a favorable case for propane when he compared the costs of running his diesel fleet and his propane fleet.

Along with representatives from the electric vehicle, natural gas, and biodiesel industries, Perkins spoke to about 400 attendees on the propane industry’s achievements in 2014 and expectations for 2015.

He said the Work Truck Show alleviated his concern that low gasoline prices would make fleet managers choose gasoline-fueled vehicles over propane. Fleet managers see the volatility of gasoline prices and the total cost of ownership advantages that propane has over diesel.

“I’m thinking that everyone is making their purchasing decisions knowing full well that propane is a safe choice, and we’re glad to see that,” he stated, adding that additional announcements of fleets moving to propane will take place at the ACT Expo May 4 to 7 in Dallas.

The AmeriPride Story

As gasoline prices increased in 2013, AmeriPride began looking at various alternative fuels to reduce the company’s fuel expenses and emissions. The company looked at CNG, hybrids, and pure electric in addition to propane. Banny Allison, fleet manager of AmeriPride, told BPN that it chose its Topeka location as a good place for a pilot program of five Ford F-59 trucks running on propane. The area has very little infrastructure for natural gas. Ferrellgas (Overland Park, Kan.) placed a 1000-gal. propane tank at AmeriPride’s Topeka site, and the pilot program began in the fall of 2013. Ferrellgas took care of the permitting process, and Allison held meetings with a local fire marshal.

With the exception of a minor check engine light issue that Roush CleanTech fixed after discovering a loose wiring harness connection, the pilot program went well. Allison said each vehicle runs about 75 to 225 miles per day, with anywhere from 25 to 40 customer stops per day. Vehicles deliver clean laundry and pick up soiled laundry, and the company serves about 150,000 customers per week.

Of the 1800-vehicle fleet, 95% run on diesel. The company is currently conducting pilot programs with CNG and electric vehicles. “Different vehicles work in different markets, based on varying factors such as mileage,” Allison said, adding that in addition to the differential between diesel and propane prices, the high mileage that the vehicles in Topeka travel has allowed the fleet to recoup the approximately $18,000 cost to upfit the vehicles, plus the cost of the fueling station.

He learned during the pilot program the benefits of locking in a fuel price. When prices shot up during the winter of 2013-2014, the company had not locked in a price for propane. Its bottom line was not affected much because of the small number of propane vehicles, but it definitely caught Allison’s attention and taught him the benefits of locking in a price.

For its Topeka site and its future site in California that will also use 10 of the vehicles, the company has locked in a propane price for next winter. It chose Sacramento for propane vehicles because of the lack of natural gas infrastructure and also to deal more easily with California’s diesel emission regulations.

How are the company’s drivers adapting to propane vehicles? They can’t tell any difference, other than the training they received from Ferrellgas on fueling the trucks.

Allison added that the company also saves because of the approximately 20% energy density difference between propane and gasoline, which is one of various reasons the company might add more propane vehicles in the future.

AmeriPride’s move to propane is another step in Roush CleanTech’s continuing move into the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle market, said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing at Roush CleanTech. “This is just another example of a medium-duty vehicle where the customer burns a lot of fuel and is looking for a solution, and propane autogas and Roush CleanTech worked out really well for them.”

Alliance AutoGas’ Offerings

Before becoming president of Blossman Services this past July, Ed Hoffman had experience in operating a fleet of bi-fuel propane autogas and other alternative-fuel vehicles for Keystone Automotive (Exeter, Pa.). Operational efficiency was one of his main goals at Keystone, and in overseeing Alliance’s development of the Ford Transit 3.7L engine conversion to propane autogas, he improved efficiency again, reducing the propane system’s installation time by half — about six hours — compared to a typical 12- to 14-hour installation time for the Transit’s predecessor, the Ford E-Series.

Hoffman believes that like the E-Series, which Ford produced for decades until last year, the Ford Transit will be a revolutionary vehicle for fleets.

“[The E-Series] has really been the workhorse, or one of our most successful autogas products, because of its fleet usage, for delivering packages, delivering people, there’s so many places it fits in,” Hoffman stated. “The Transit product is the new updated version of that, and we knew we had to be part of that evolution.”

The bi-fuel product will also offer extended range capability of 450 miles compared to 250 miles for its predecessor. Alliance AutoGas adds the propane system with a 21-gal. propane tank to the existing 25-gal. gasoline tank. Alliance also increased its warranty on the system components from three years or 36,000 miles to five years or 100,000 miles. The Transit will come in three versions: a cargo van, a wagon, and a cutaway.

Alliance is also developing a Ford Explorer police vehicle, a Ford F-650, and an Isuzu NPR with the same warranty and efficient system installation.

Alliance AutoGas’ Transit and Roush CleanTech’s AmeriPride announcements were just two reasons to be excited about propane’s showing at the Work Truck Show, said Perkins. He saw heavy activity at the Freightliner booth, and he is seeing “continued maturing” of Freightliner in understanding how to sell a propane vehicle.

“We’re really excited that [Alliance AutoGas] was there and able to talk about their [bi-fuel autogas system], and we could talk about an EPA certification in that technology. We’re thrilled to see AmeriPride team up with Roush CleanTech and Ford and bring a new industry, linen, to a list of satisfied users. And I think just in general I’m really glad to see propane sprinkled around the show and fleet managers now considering propane as a fuel they need to look at if they’re thinking about moving away from gasoline and diesel.” —