“We have a corporate and public responsibility to our customers to be environmentally friendly,” said Daniel Kratz, truck operations manager, GE Capital Solutions, at the Work Truck Show’s Hybrid Truck & Alternative Fuels Summit in Atlanta. Kratz discussed the use of hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels in vocational truck applications, now and in the future.
High fuel costs, dependence on an unstable petroleum supply, corporate mandates to reduce carbon footprints and government idling regulations all are market drivers for hybrids, said Kratz. But there are challenges too, including warranty concerns, serviceability, training difficulties, safety issues and limited model availability. Hybrid vehicle batteries also have to be replaced about every eight years, which comes with a $5,000 price tag.
Kratz went on to discuss some of the benefits of alternative fuels, such as reduced CO2 emissions. Over its lifetime, pure biodiesel emits about 78 percent less CO2 than conventional diesel.
Using what GE calls “ecomagination,” the company provides a roadmap for improving a fleet’s environmental performance. This includes everything from vehicle selection, vehicle efficiency, and measurement and reporting tools used to analyze and communicate environmental performance.
Recent developments in hybrid and alternative fuels technology are pushing environmentally sound developments forward, but these technologies still have a long way to go. “We’re at the tip of the iceberg,” Kratz said.
