2013 EDUCATION REPORT
Electric Utility Fleet Managers Conference (EUFMC)
EUFMC is an annual educational event for utility fleet professionals. The conference format includes sessions on topics related to fleet management, presentations of the latest fleet products and technologies, roundtable discussions on common challenges and solutions, and networking opportunities with industry peers and the manufacturer/vendor community.
The objectives of this non-profit association are dissemination of educational and technical information pertaining to the design, procurement, application, operation and maintenance of equipment used by the Electric Utilities; provision of a forum where Utility Fleet Professionals can exchange information and discuss mutual problems, and promotion of close cooperation between Manufacturers, Suppliers, Services, and Fleet Professionals engaged in the development and design of vehicles and equipment associated with the Electric Utility Industry.
TUESDAY JUNE 4, 2013
Keynote Address
Greg Pruett, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas and Electric Company
PG&E, which has a long history of incorporating efficient and sustainable transportation technologies, today has more than 3,400 alternative fuel models in its fleet. Included are electric, natural gas and hybrid vehicles. The company is also working with aerial device suppliers to develop and test plug-in battery-powered systems and is deploying extended range electric trucks, plug-in hybrid material handlers, and all-electric service body units.
“We have also worked to develop customized lease terms that take into account the lifecycle of electric vehicles,” Pruett noted. “We believe that other utilities can take advantage of these opportunities as well. Collectively, when it comes to the electrification of transportation, the utility industry has an incredible opportunity to be a game changer across the U.S.
“Fleet is the backbone of our industry,” Pruett added. “We cannot serve our customers without it and in many cases our fleet is the main contact our customers have with us. It’s essential that we field vehicles that are as safe, clean and reliable as the electricity we provide.”
Electric PTO - The Technology and How It Performs
Mark Greer, Green Fleet Market Manager, Altec Industries
Development of the company’s JEMS (Jobsite Emergency Management System) technology was based on looking at all the reasons why a truck engine runs at jobsites, including the need to power the boom, and provide power for tools, cab comfort and lighting. The idea was to electrify loads at the jobsite with a system that is sized for the aerial device, accounts for work practices and considers payload requirements.
Benefits of JEMs ePTO technology include reduced fuel consumption, lower tailpipe emissions, less idle time at the jobsite, reduced operating noise, and crew safety and health.
Matt Jarmuz, Director of Sales, Odyne
Trucks over 14,000 lbs GVW can save 50 percent or more in fuel (over 1,000 gallon annually), depending on the duty cycle, with a plug-in hybrid propulsion system. The technology saves fuel during drive cycles and during stationary operations at work sites.
Odyne’s hybrid architecture, which incorporates Allison automatic transmissions, Johnson Controls lithium ion batteries and Remy electric motors, is a parallel hybrid solution that can be retrofitted to existing vehicles and installed without the need to modify the OEM drivetrain.
Odyne systems are installed by the company and shipped to final stage manufacturers such as Altec, Dueco, Terex and Utilimaster. Market applications for the solution include aerial devices, cranes, digger derricks and vehicles used for construction and maintenance of underground utilities.
It’s important to understand your application. Data acquisition systems can track miles driven per day, kinetic intensity of driving cycle, idle and PTO time and available time to recharge. The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab provided data for a Hybrid Truck Payback Calculator that took into account fuel use and power requirements. Findings included that on average vehicles are spending more than 90% of their time at zero speed and five hours per day in PTO mode, and covering an average daily distance of 12 miles at speeds between 25 and 35 MPH.
Plug-in hybridscan decrease fuel consumption during driving and at job sites, and lower greenhouse gas emissions. They are also quieter, produce engine maintenance cost savings, provide more power for acceleration and truck-mounted equipment, require a minimal change in operator behavior and their less intrusive design can preserve OEM chassis warranty.
Nick Cammisa, Sales Manager-HyPower Products, Terex
The Terex HyPower plug-in hybrid system used for boom and tool functions will operate with the engine off most of the day and the truck will auto-restart if the batteries require a charge. HyPower, which can be retrofitted to existing vehicles depending on body layout, can also provide cabin comfort and exportable power.
Lesson learned for users of earlier generation HyPower systems are being addressed. Included are continued exploration of alternative battery technologies and software improvements.
Nina Kisch, Manager, Transportation Services, Pacific Gas and Electric Company
With more than 3,400 on-road alternative fueled and high efficiency vehicles, including 349 ePTO units, PG&E is ranked among the top utility fleet users of alternative fuel vehicles. PG&E’s ePTO vehicle strategy includes trouble trucks with 35-ft aerials. These vehicles have standard specifications and are being ordered with ePTO technology. The fleet has also ordered 55 material handlers with 55-ft booms that are equipped with ePTO systems,and is considering making them a standard specification.
PG&E is measuring hard benefits of plug-in hybrids like fuel costs. Using idle time, fuel use, three year average fuel price projections, work days per year, idling fuel cost per year, and the price of the system to determine a payback period from fuel savings, the payback period can be as short as a little more than two years. Another hard benefit being measured is engine wear, with an estimated reduction in idle time of five hours per day equating to an annual drop in engine wear of 69 percent.
Soft benefits that can be realized from ePTO use include cleaner air at job sites from reduced emissions, quieter operation, which facilitates safety by improving crew communication and makes utility vehicles less intrusive in neighborhoods, and the ability to extend work days in cities with noise ordinances.
Challenges being addressed at PG&E include fostering greater operator acceptance through communication and training, infrastructure needs for charging the battery when trouble trucks go home with employees (using a union agreement to reimburse employees for charging costs) and engineering issues to provide more charge to the battery when driving.
PG&E’s next steps are to integrate its new material handlers into the fleet and obtain performance results, install additional charge points, test an under hood generator to provide more charge to the batteries when trucks can’t be plugged in regularly, look at transitioning to lithium ion chemistry and lighter weight batteries, and continually evaluate next generation improvements with suppliers.
Regulatory & Legislative Update
Pat O’Connor, Legislative Counsel, NAFA (National Association of Fleet Administrators)
Emergency Response-- Discussions are underway with the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Transportation to enable electric utilities restoring service to avoid being classified as “first responders” in the traditional sense, but allow them to meet requirements for access to fuel and restoration sites without a time consuming and expensive credentialing process.
Distracted Driving-- FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) has banned commercial truck and bus drivers from texting while driving and all hand-held cell phone use. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has banned texting on electronic devices by drivers operating a motor vehicle containing hazardous materials.
NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) issued voluntary guidelines calling on the auto manufacturers to include technology in cars that automatically disables built-in phone calling, texting and other distracting devices unless the car is parked. The rules would apply to communications, entertainment, information gathering and navigation devices or functions that are not required to safely operate the vehicle. At a later date, NHTSA will issue guidelines for mobile devices, including smart phones, navigation systems, etc. that are brought into the vehicle, and guidelines to address voice activated controls.
During a meeting with NHTSA, NAFA recommended that the guidelines not apply to certain government fleet and emergency service vehicles, including law enforcement, fire and rescue, utility service, and medical response vehicles. NHTSA does not agree with the suggestion that the guidelines should not apply to service vehicles, and does not believe that the response time needs of utility service vehicles are as time critical as those of the other emergency vehicles.
Hours of Service (HOS)-- New HOS rules went into effect on July 1, 2013 that reduces a driver’s work week from 82 hours to 70 hours, retain the current allowable 11 hour daily driving limit, and require a 34-hour rest period before a driver starts a new work week, including two periods from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.
EOBRs-- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has vacated the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) final rule requiring interstate commercial truck and bus fleets to install electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) to monitor their drivers' Hours-of-Service (HOS) compliance. FMCSA has announced that the EOBR rule for all truck fleets will be delayed.
CSA— Some fleet managers are critical that CSA does not make a distinction between a 10,000-lb GVWR truck and an 80,000-lb GVWR over-the-road tractor-trailer. The issue of most concern to NAFA fleet managers is that CSA currently does not distinguish between accidents in which a fleet driver is at fault versus those where the driver is not at fault.
Driver Medical Examiner’s Certificates (MEC)-- FMCSA has announced a proposed rule for random verification of MECs and to suspend or revoke the operating authority registration of fleets that have shown either egregious disregard for safety compliance or that permit persons who have shown egregious disregard for safety compliance to act on their behalf.
Sound Standards-- NHTSA proposed a rule that hybrid and electric vehicles meet minimum sound standards in order to help make all pedestrians more aware of approaching vehicles. The rule would require automakers to install event data recorders (EDRs)—devices that collect specific safety related data—in all light passenger vehicles beginning September 1, 2014.
Fuel Economy and GHG-- New fuel economy standards will cover cars and light trucks for Model Years 2017-2025, requiring performance equivalent to 54.5 mpg in 2025 while reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 163 grams per mile.
Phase 1 Truck Standards for Model Years 2014-2018 divide medium- and heavy-duty vehicles into three regulatory categories. Separate vehicle and engine standards allow emissions credits for averaging, banking and trading, and provide incentives for early certification and advanced and innovative technologies.
By Model Year 2018 combination tractors will be required to achieve up to approximately a 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Heavy-duty pickup trucks and vans will be required to achieve up to about a 15 percent reduction in fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and vocational vehicles will be required to reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 10 percent.
The major focus of Phase 2 Truck Standards will be vocational vehicles and work trucks. NHTSA will set fuel economy standards and is planning a survey to develop baseline vehicle configurations within each vehicle category and for each subcategory’s relative fuel consumption performance. EPA will set GHG standards and needs data for finer segmentation of the vocational vehicle market; for example, the lack of data on segments where there is significant idle time and how best to determine idle time on a time or fuel consumed basis.
EPA has proposed new clean car and fuel standards to cut air pollution and protect health. Starting in 2017, Tier 3 regulations would set new vehicle emissions standards and lower the sulfur content of gasoline, considering the vehicle and its fuel as an integrated system. Tier 3 will reduce volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) tailpipe standards by 80 percent over today’s fleet, establish a 70 percent tighter PM standard, and reduce fuel vapor emissions to “zero level”.
Fuel-- EPA extended the waiver on selling E15 to include Model Year 2001 and newer cars and light trucks. The agency has also issued pump labeling requirements, including that the fuel industry specify the ethanol content of gasoline sold to a retailer or fleet. Several lawsuits have been filed challenging EPA’s approval of higher ethanol blends in newer vehicles and off-road vehicles.
The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) sets targets and timetables for biofuels in four categories: conventional corn-derived ethanol, biodiesel, cellulosic biofuel, and undifferentiated advanced biofuel. The targets for the categories total 16.55 billion gallons for 2013, of which not more than 13.8 billion gallons is ethanol.
Ethanol is scheduled to reach its cap of 15 billion gallons by 2015, while the other categories can continue to rise until the total RFS reaches 36 billion gallons by 2022. The ethanol target in the RFS may soon necessitate that more than 10 percent be added to the gasoline supply. NAFA’s comments include that E15 poses risks for vehicles and fueling systems and that federal policy should look to E85 as a solution.
EPACT-- DOE has proposed a rule to allocate credits for the acquisition of hybrid electric vehicles (1/2 credit), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (1/2 credit), neighborhood electric vehicles (1/4 credit), and medium- or heavy-duty hybrid electric vehicles (1/2 credit). The proposal would also allocate 1 credit for every $25,000 invested in an alternative fuel infrastructure and/or alternative fuel non-road equipment.
NAFA’s comments to DOE include that the department should publish a final rule as soon as possible, reconsider the proposed credit allocation and give fleets full credit, and modify its policy on fleet compliance credits for acquisition of medium- and heavy-duty AFVs and non-AFVs.
NAT Gas Act -- The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act has not yet been introduced. It would extendtax credits for five years for the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel, the purchase of natural gas-fueled vehicles, and the installation of natural gas vehicle refueling properties.
The NAT Gas Act also makes available vehicle and infrastructure tax credits to the purchaser of the vehicle. For government fleets and other tax exempt entities, the bill treats sellers as if they placed the fueling infrastructure or vehicle in service, and allows sellers to claim the tax credit but only if they disclose the value of the tax credit to the fleet purchaser. The bill also assesses a temporary user fee on natural gas used as a vehicle fuel.
Energy Security Trust-- The newly proposed trust provides incentives for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that run on natural gas or other alternative fuels, and a 50% tax credit for the incremental cost. Congress has extended tax credits for biodiesel, natural gas and propane to 12/31/13 (retroactive to 1/1/12) and the IRS has published a Q&A on how to claim credits for qualifying 2012 sales or use.
Underground Storage Tanks—EPA has issued a revised regulation for USTs, including compatibility requirements for systems storing gasoline containing greater than 10 percent ethanol and 20 percent biodiesel. Current UST regulations require that owners and operators must use a UST system made of or lined with materials that are compatible with the substance stored.
A UST system includes tanks or internal tank linings; piping; pipe adhesives and glues; line leak detectors; flexible connectors; fill pipes; spill and overfill prevention equipment; submersible turbine pumps and components; fittings, gaskets, bushings, couplings, and boots; containment sumps (including submersible turbine sumps and under dispenser containment), and release detection floats and sensors.
Compatibility options under the proposed regulation include certification or listing by an independent test laboratory and equipment manufacturer approval. EPA considers acceptable forms of manufacturer approvals to be in writing indicating an affirmative statement of compatibility; and is from the equipment manufacturer, not another entity such as the installer or distributor.