Manufacturers, hauling companies look to greener trucks

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Now that hybrids have a firm green foothold on the market for cars and light trucks, they are moving into medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

And while they are still expensive, they are getting more economical by the day as diesel prices continue at or near record levels.

Just about every manufacturer of medium- to heavy-duty trucks, including majors like Freightliner LLC, Navistar International Corp., Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co., are developing or producing larger hybrid diesel-electric trucks, said Robert Clarke, president of the Truck Manufacturers Association in Washington, D.C. Several companies began producing them this year.

Hybrid diesel-electric trucks are expensive - typical for new technology - but manufacturers say the vehicles can save 30 to 60 percent on fuel costs, depending on how they are used. They also reduce diesel emissions and should help quiet truck and bus noises. Dealers expect the costs to come down in time.

"I think everybody sees the benefit of doing this for certain vocations," Clarke said. "Some vocations will benefit more than others, but all can benefit by using hybrids to some extent."

Hybrids have become popular when it comes to cars, pickup trucks and SUVs. They made up about 2 percent of the total U.S. vehicle market last year, but U.S. registrations of new hybrid vehicles rose 38 percent last year from 2006, said R.L. Polk & Co., a Southfield, Mich., automotive marketing and research company.

Clarke said the diesel-electric technology is ideal for delivery and garbage trucks and buses and other stop-and-go urban uses because the more the vehicles stop, the more their batteries get charged. The technology has been around for some time, but mostly for mining and military uses.

Like cars, hybrid trucks rely more on electric power at low speeds.

"One application folks are looking at a lot is utility bucket trucks, such as those that operate on power lines," he said. "Sometimes, they just have to operate the lift, so the engine is running. If all that can be operated by batteries, the vehicles don't have to sit and idle."

Dean Swick is sales manager for medium-duty vehicles in Kenworth's Western region. He said that a diesel-electric bucket truck could reduce its idling time by 85 percent and save up to 60 percent in fuel. He is based in Kirkland, Wash.

So far, the diesel-electric hybrids cost up to 60 percent more than a comparable diesel-only truck, dealers say.

Mike McCandless is owner of McCandless of Arizona, an International truck dealer. He said a hybrid option for a typical chassis that would cost $60,000 could add another $53,000 to its price. Batteries cost $6,000 to $8,000 and are expected to last six to eight years.

Crescent Crown Distributing, which distributes beer throughout the Phoenix area, plans to lease four Peterbilt diesel-electric hybrids, each with a battery about the size of a refrigerator, although they may not be economical.

Richard Marchant, vice president of operations at the Phoenix office, said that the trucks will end up costing a total of about $20,000 extra over the period of the lease than if the company had gone with standard diesel trucks, even after the savings in diesel.

"That's at current diesel prices," he said. "If it (price) goes up even a buck, it will be even-steven in a hurry."

Marchant said that while the company likes to be on the leading edge of technology, it decided not to go for more than four vehicles.

"It's a brand-new technology, so obviously we are not going to get heavily invested until we find out if it works," he said.

Clarke said it's tough to get hybrid trucks on the market.

"The truck market is very, very different from the car market in that the volumes are very low," he said. "We sell only on the order of a couple of hundred thousand commercial trucks a year compared to 15 million light-duty cars and trucks. So the economies of scale are nowhere near."

In addition to high diesel prices, the heightened interest in being green could help hybrid trucks.

"A lot of people," Swick said, "are looking at the new technology as almost marketing purchases to communicate their concerns about the environment to the public."

Because hybrids are ideal for utilities, spokesmen for several cities, including Phoenix, Mesa and Glendale, said that they are watching the development of these vehicles with interest but haven't committed to buying any. Allied Waste Industries Inc., a nationwide garbage hauler and recycler based in Phoenix, is also interested.

Waste Management Inc., of Houston, the nation's largest waste-management company that does business in the Phoenix area, has purchased four diesel-electric hybrids and is testing them in northern Texas to see how practical they are and whether they do what their manufacturers claim, said Don Cassano, Phoenix-area spokesman.

"It's probably a ways off before we buy a bunch," he said.

Pete Scarafiotti, Mesa's fleet director, said the city has looked into using hybrids and determined that because it would have to pay about $30,000 more per truck for diesel-electric hybrids, the city would have to take another look at the economics.

"As far as the hybrid technology, it's mature enough," Scarafiotti said.

"We're seeing great savings on the light-duty side. We have Priuses (Toyota sedans) that are getting 40 to 47 miles per gallon, and we have reason to believe we will get that in the larger-duty vehicles also."

One big advantage the hybrids offer is that they are quieter because they can idle on electric power. Scarafiotti said electric motors could be used when workers are lifted in buckets to work on power lines or streetlights.

"You're usually using these trucks in neighborhoods with a lot of housing," he said. "So you don't want trucks making a lot of noise."

Because diesel-electric hybrids are fairly new, not a lot have been sold in Arizona, several dealers said. Still, they are selling elsewhere.

Swick said Coca-Cola just bought 120 diesel-electric hybrids from Kenworth.

McCandless said International began coming out with hybrids last year.

"We haven't sold any in this state locally, but just about everybody has inquired about it," he said.

The diesel-electric hybrids are just one of the green options at which manufacturers are looking. In addition to making regular diesel trucks more efficient, less polluting and quieter every year, they are starting to look at producing hydraulic diesels and trucks that use liquefied natural gas instead of diesel.

With automakers shifting toward hybrids, though, truck manufacturers are expected to follow.

Some, such as Kenworth, are looking at heavy-duty tractor-trailers, or semis, also known as Class 8 trucks.

Fuel savings aren't expected to be as great, however, because they don't stop and start as much, giving them the same opportunities to recharge their batteries as smaller delivery vehicles and garbage trucks.

Still, possibilities for more electricity and less diesel usage are wide open. Clarke said the ultimate goal is to put all the accessories that draw on the engine, such as air-conditioners and air brakes, on electric power.

Oshkosh Truck Corp., of Oshkosh, Wis., has developed a hybrid-propulsion system called ProPulse for heavy-duty trucks that is now being used for Army transporters. Experts hope it could be used for refuse hauling, fire and emergency vehicles and other commercial trucks.

Its on-board electric system serves as a generator and can power an entire airfield or remote military hospital.

Manufacturers, hauling companies look to greener trucks