Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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Continued from page 31 to happen that quickly. There is a lot of money behind these efforts, and I think there is a high chance of implementation." Secondly, Carmichael said the 12- and 13-liter natural gas engine offerings coming in the near term with high horsepower will satisfy the needs of many fleets. "This is a huge game-changer, " he said. "You'll address one of the biggest challenges that fleets have put out there as to why they aren't going to natural gas with bigger orders already. " Carmichael said challenges to natural gas adoption are the higher upfront prices of the engines, which can be as much as $50,000 to $60,000 higher than diesels, and only a handful of incentives in existence to support fleets looking to adopt new technology. Erik Neandross, chief executive officer of Gladstein, Neandross & Associates, shared Carmichael's optimism for the future of alterna- tive fuels in the trucking industry. "I truly believe the natural gas revolu- tion is under way, " he said. "You don't need grants and incentives in the right operation profile." Neandross believes the cost gap in engine technologies will lessen over time. "If you look at the refuse truck market in the 2000s, the incremen- tal cost on a natural gas refuse truck was about $65,000," he said. "Today, it's less than $30,000. As the market grows, there is more competition and more technology advancement. I fully expect the same thing to hap- pen on the over-the-road side." Neandross said it is critical to figure out how to put natural gas into your operation. "It has to be the right fit for the application, or it won't work. Daimler Trucks North America credits several key advancements for making fuel economy increases possible for Freightliner's Cascadia Evolution, which will be the standard Cascadia spec beginning in 2014. Freightliner debuts Cascadia Evolution tractor 2014-compliant tractor delivers improved fuel economy, aerodynamics T he next step in Daimler Trucks North America's development of more fuel-efficient trucks appeared at a press confer- ence on the eve of Freightliner's annual dealer meeting in Washington, D.C. The 2014 Cascadia Evolution is designed to be a step forward in terms of fuel efficiency and powertrain optimization, building upon the com- pany's Cascadia highway tractor. "Trucking is a penny business – we " Midsize and large fleets with vehicles using 8,000 gallons per year have the right profile, he said. 34 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | JULY 2012 know that even the smallest improve- ments to a truck's overall efficiency directly benefit our customers' bottom lines," said Mark Lampert, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Freightliner. "Rising fuel prices, driver shortages and slim profit margins all play a part in their buying decisions." Lampert said the 2014 Cascadia Evolution delivers a 7 percent fuel economy improvement over the current base Cascadia model and a 5 percent improvement over the Cascadia with an aerodynamics package. David Hames, DTNA general manager of marketing and strategy, said several key advancements have made these fuel economy increases possible for the Cascadia Evolution – which will be the standard Cascadia spec beginning in 2014 – including upgrades to DTNA's Detroit DD15 diesel engine that include a new ACRS fuel rail system, a new water pump design to reduce parasitic engine drag and an asymmetric compounding turbocharger. These enhancements are combined with an enhanced exterior aerodynamic package to achieve fuel economy gains that Hames said have been validated in wind tunnel, closed- track and real-world test conditions. The Cascadia Evolution also will include a premium-fuel-efficiency specification model that includes extras such as an integrated automated manual transmission, wide-base single tires, wheel covers and trailer aerodynamics. This model, Hames said, achieved a fuel economy average of 10.67 mpg while pulling a 76,000-pound trailer during a Type IV test run on Continental Tire's test track in Texas. Further validation testing was done during the truck's Evolution Efficiency Tour, which compared a current Cas- cadia's performance with an Evolution tractor in a coast-to-coast run from San Diego to Gastonia, N.C. Hames said that by trip's end, the Evolution tractor – set to enter production in the first quarter of 2013 – had averaged a 7 percent increase in fuel economy running in a variety of real-world driving conditions." – Jack Roberts