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Cummins ‘Playbook’ Offers Guidance on Natural Gas for Fleets

Screenshot of Natural Gas Playbook website

Cummins Westport's new Natural Gas Playbook is a website to give new and existing natural gas customers guidance on evaluating and operating CWI-powered natural gas vehicles.

Located at www.cwiplaybook.com, the five-step Natural Gas Playbook features information and tips on how to assess, specify, prepare, implement, and operate/maintain a CWI-powered natural gas fleet. The website provides answers for fleets that have questions about operating natural gas vehicles.

The Natural Gas Playbook answers questions such as:

In addition to tips and tools for CWI products, the playbook also offers the opportunity to connect with Cummins and CWI experts to answer questions and support the adoption of natural gas into truck, refuse, school bus and transit applications.

The site features two new calculators. A Greenhouse Gas Emissions Calculator calculator is based on three published North American well-to-wheel GHG Models: GREET, GREET California, and GHGenius. It provides the carbon dioxide equivalent WTW emission reductions possible with the use of natural gas or renewable natural gas in a variety of applications.

A Payback Calculator is a tool to calculate fuel savings, average fleet speed, service intervals, and fuel system capacity requirements.

Related: Cummins Improves MidRange Engine Lineup for 2017

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Drivers Key to Cutting Idle Costs

Fleets must balance the need to reduce idling with the need to attract and retain drivers. Photo:  Randy Heinitz via Flickr/creative commons license

Ten years ago, we would have predicted that by now no truck would be idling anywhere in the United States,” says Mike Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, which studies fuel-efficiency tactics and technologies. Yet despite widespread anti-idling laws and lots of available idle-reduction technology, go to any truck stop today and you'll see plenty of trucks still idling.

Even in California, which has the strictest emissions regulations in the country, new trucks with advanced emissions control systems can be certified as “Clean Idle.” And right now, diesel prices are low enough that for some truck owners, it's just not a priority — or at least not as high a one as keeping drivers comfortable and happy in the face of an ever-worsening driver shortage.

Yet even with lower fuel prices, there's still plenty of money to be saved by reducing idling. A 2016 report by Argonne National Laboratory found that all idle reduction options save money when fuel costs more than $2 per gallon. Harder to quantify but just as real is the saved wear and tear on the truck engine.

Taylor White, vice president for 235-truck dry van fleet Alabama Motor Express, says his company adopted APUs over a decade ago. The fleet has tried both diesel and battery-powered versions, but currently has Thermo King's TriPac diesel APU on all its trucks. “When fuel got to its peak we would see a return [on our investment] in 18 months just on fuel numbers,” he says.

While lower diesel prices mean the ROI isn't as fast, he says, using APUs has improved trade-in values. With the hours on the truck engine significantly reduced, AMX has been ...Read the rest of this story

Eating Healthy Like a Trucker

A big challenge for drivers who want to eat healthy meals is just getting past the typical high-calorie fare to find inexpensive but healthy food choices while out on the road. Photos: J.J. Keller & Associates

The news came as a shock to Emily Plummer. Her blood sugar level had jumped, threatening to end her 18-year career as an interstate truck driver.

“I had picked up a load and was on my way to Washington state when I got the phone call,” the Springfield, Missouri, driver said. “You're thinking, ‘This can't be happening.' I've worked too hard to get where I'm at.'”

Plummer is far from the first driver to have health issues jeopardize her career. Seven in 10 drivers are obese, which puts them at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, and heart disease, according to a study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The medical conditions that often accompany obesity, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, can put a driver at risk of not being medically qualified to drive.

Plummer had been diabetic for five years, and maintained acceptable blood sugar levels with the help of medication, before her blood sugar spiked. She knew her diet wasn't great, but wasn't sure how to change it.

“I was still eating the cheeseburgers, French fries, soda, and candy, and chips,” she says. “I was just eating whatever I wanted to eat, and that was horrible.”

One of the challenges Plummer and other drivers face is lack of easy access to inexpensive healthy food. Truck stops are loaded with deals on supersize candy bars and soda. Restaurant specials often revolve around high-calorie offerings. Healthy food is available, but doesn't dominate the selection and is rarely on sale.

“The places where you can find easy parking are truck ...Read the rest of this story