Valley chamber, businesses discuss alternative fuel options for fleets
Apr. 11—MONTANDON — Representatives from Watsontown Trucking and local car dealerships were among the many businesses and state environmental experts speaking at an alternative fuel summit hosted by the Central Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce Wednesday morning.
The object of Charging At Work and Alternative Fuel Vehicles Within Your Fleet was not to disparage diesel-fuel-powered vehicles, said Tony Bandiero, executive director, of Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance for Clean Transportation.
"I am not a 'tree hugger,'" he said.
The discussions that followed focused not only on electric-powered trucks but also on renewable natural gas vehicles, such as propane-powered buses.
"The goal as an alliance is to reduce diesel-fuel emissions and make the world a better and safer place for our children," Bandiero said.
Watsontown Trucking Vice President Chris Patton said their fleet puts in 37 million miles a year.
"The large companies we deal with all are interested in how they can reduce their carbon footprint," Patton said. "These companies are looking to their transportation team, which is often measured based on their carbon footprint.
"When you deal with these major companies, you have to make an effort, to reduce that carbon footprint, and we do at Watsontown Trucking."
The trucking company is now looking into using biodegradable fuel such as HVO — hydrotreated vegetable oil — a diesel-like fuel that can be produced without fossil resources.
In 2020, Watsontown Trucking had zero EV trucks; this year, they have five.
"It has zero emissions but it's hard to get right now and only available in California," Patton said. "A producer is going to rail it in from California and put it in our tanks to use.
"What we will be doing locally is buying three EV tractors that will be serving this region — local customers such as ConAgra here in Milton."
There will be three charging stations for the three trucks in Milton, he said.
"We hope this will make an impact, locally," Patton said.
Watsontown Trucking Director of Operations Jared Brokenshire said the proximity of customers like ConAgra helps.
"In dealing with customers like ConAgra — they are about 3 miles from our warehouses," Brokenshire said. "We feel we can electrify those three shuttles in the next few months.
Locally, the trucking company delivers more than 7,500 shipments a year, Brokenshire said.
"We feel that with these three trucks, we will be able to electrify 95 percent of those shuttles," he said. "That's ambitious, but we are going to give it a shot."
One of the challenges in transitioning to alternative fuels is the cost of the vehicle although in the long term, money is saved, said Brokenshire.
The short-haul diesel vehicle cost would typically be $170,000; a similar EV truck goes for $540,000. But with grants, the prices even out, he said. There are no diesel costs with the EV truck, just the charging cost.
Getting the charging infrastructure is on the to-do list of both the federal and Pennsylvania governments, said Colton Brown, alternative fuels infrastructure coordinator with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
"It's a process. We are among the first states to get a few charging stations going," he said. "As of right now, we have over twice as many projects going as the next highest state. We are building the network."
