The air surrounding the seaports at Long Beach and Los Angeles, Calif., is probably a bit clearer now, two months after Daimler Trucks North America began delivering 232 natural gas fueled daycab tractors to customers working in and around the two busy international cargo hubs.
The first wave of these new trucks –– all of which are intended to replace aging, pre-1998 diesel power units –– are Sterling L-113 flat-roof conventionals, powered by 8.9-L Cummins Westport ISL G engines rated at 320 HP and 1,000 lbs.-ft. of torque. Slightly more than half of the total sold, 132 to be exact, were intended for contractors leased to California Cartage Co., a 60-year-old family owned drayage and warehousing firm based in Wilmington, Calif. The other 100 will eventually be distributed to small fleets and owner-operators through the ports’ Clean Trucks program, a governmental effort to reduce the area’s air pollution.
The deal to acquire this green technology was lubricated with lots of greenbacks, in the form of municipal subsidies and tax credits. Each of the trucks carried a retail price of roughly $160,000, but the combined assistance offered to Cal Cartage truckers took care of all but $40,000 –– and that, with the help of a local bank, was being financed through seven-year lease-to-own packages. The terms available to other buyers through the Clean Trucks program were not completely clear; although they’re apparently somewhat less lucrative.
Cal Cartage’s slightly bigger chunk of funding was driven by two factors, says Erik Neandross, CEO of Gladstein Neandross & Associates, an environmental consulting firm based in Santa Monica, Calif. First, the company was an early champion of efforts to curb port pollution. And, second, its grants and credits came from a collaborative project, designed by Neandross, that involved the Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The Clean Trucks program, by comparison, has been funded mostly by fees assessed on containers moving through the ports.
Obviously, the cost of engines burning natural gas, whether compressed or liquefied, is much higher than that of similarly sized diesels. But truckers switching from the latter to the former do benefit a little from lower fuel prices –– even though diesel offers far better economy.
The chief advantage of natural gas is its reduced impact on the environment. During a press event to publicize Sterling’s sizable sale at the ports, officials from Daimler Trucks North America referred to the Cummins Westport ISL G as a “near-zero emissions” engine. They said that it already met the EPA’s 2010 diesel exhaust mandate –– without particulate filters or other aftertreatment devices. The engine uses an advanced combustion system, cooled exhaust-gas recirculation and a three-way catalyst to quell emissions. Nitrogen oxide emitted from the engine is at a CARB-compliant 0.20 gram per brake horsepower/hour; particulate matter is at 0.01 g. BHP/h. Greenhouse gasses are almost non-existent because natural gas contains little carbon.
DTNA President Chris Patterson, speaking at the event, pointed to yet another benefit of natural gas: It’s abundant throughout North America. “Each of these tractors will reduce the use of imported oil by 500 barrels per year,” he said. Multiplied by 232, the total reduction could be as much as 116,000 barrels annually.
Of course, the abundance of domestic sources doesn’t mean the fuel is readily available on the street, at least yet. Bob Lively, vice president of strategic planning for Cal Cartage, says the ports currently have just one LNG fueling station nearby. Until more are built, newly minted LNG truckers might spend a lot of time waiting for their turn at the pump, especially because the trucks in question have an operational range of only 250 to 300 miles between 100-gallon fills.
Neandross points out that other LNG stations are located along major truck routes in all directions from the ports, but these are typically private facilities. “There is public access to most of them,” he says, “but they’re nothing like the usual 24-7 travel plazas with acres of parking and a buffet.” CNG is actually more widely available than LNG across California, but few of the stations dispensing it are set up to handle large trucks.
The shortage of fueling options, Neandross says, is a temporary issue that will be resolved as more local trucking operations switch from diesel fuel to natural gas-powered vehicles. That might take a while, however. Although most of the Cal Cartage trucks are already assigned, those going into the Clean Trucks program are, for the most part, still available. Neandross says a lot of people are just waiting to see what happens with the early adopters. “At this point,” he says, “truckers aren’t really clamoring to get an LNG truck, but I believe that eventually word will start spreading, and we’ll see more people getting onboard.”
That might be true, but future buyers won’t be ordering anything with a Sterling nameplate. Last fall, DTNA announced the brand’s discontinuation (scheduled for March) in an effort to cut costs during these lean economic times. Officials have chosen Freightliner’s M2-112 to replace Sterling’s L-113 as the designated medium- and heavy-duty natural gas vehicle.
Whatever body panels are used, executives said, the environmental benefits of these new trucks will be considerable, noticeable and immediate. Cal Cartage President Bob Curry Sr. agreed, saying he was proud to help improve the area’s air quality: “At our company, we want to be a part of the solution, not the problem.”
