KEN'S KORNER -JULY 2008
HYBRID BIG RIGS ARE HERE
BY AUTHOR, EDUCATOR & DRIVER KEN SKAGGS
Do you remember when gas stations only had two digits on their signs? It was back in the 1970’s when gas stations had to start making new signs to reflect the rising cost as gas prices went above one dollar a gallon at the pump. They had to add that third digit. I’m sure the sign manufacturers loved it, but they were most likely the only ones. Of course, I am not counting the invisible penny (the .9) they always seem to tack on - why do they do that? Well, earlier this month I saw my first five-dollar-per-gallon fuel sign and it took me back to those good old days. It had me wondering when the next digit would come, the dreaded ten-dollar mark.
Hopefully, that next digit will wait for another generation (or two). I’m still optimistic that fuel prices will come back down, to at least a bearable number. I’d be thrilled to see it under two dollars a gallon again. We may never see two-digit fuel again, but then again, you never know. I remember, in the mid-eighties, when I saw my first two-digit gas, after about ten years of triple-digits. At the time, I never thought I’d see it again, but it happened. Those were robust times, the eighties.
In the seventies, I remember paying $1.80 a gallon when I was only making $1.80 an hour, which was minimum wage at the time. Then, in the eighties, I was making about $5.00 an hour and only paying .99 cents a gallon for gas, at a time when minimum wage was about $3.30. If you compare minimum wage to the price of gas these days, it’s about 75% there. By comparison, these times are not as bad as it was in the seventies. Back then, not only were prices high, but many stations didn’t even have gas. There was a supply problem. These days, what we have is a demand problem (as I discussed in my article “Why Gas Prices Are So High” two months ago).
Well, whether or not the price of gas or diesel comes down enough remains to be seen but one thing is for sure - hybrid trucks are now on the open market and demand for them is growing. Peterbilt is the first to offer a class-8 hybrid truck. Kenworth, Freightliner, Volvo and Mack offer smaller hybrid trucks, but so far only Peterbilt has an actual hybrid semi-truck for sale (model 386). In 1985, Kenworth may have led the way with aerodynamics, but when it comes to hybrids, Peterbilt is the trendsetter, being the first to manufacture a hybrid class-8 truck.
Wal-Mart is already running a few hybrid trucks in their fleet. I think they only come in the color green, which of course, is appropriate. Green, of course, represents a clean environment, but to Wal-Mart, I’d have to say it represents the color of money, too. No offence to Wal-Mart, in fact I applaud them for taking the initiative before most of the other large companies out there have. Besides, we’d all like to save some money on fuel - even Wal-Mart. And if we can help the environment along the way, that makes it even better.
Kenworth offers their medium-duty hybrid trucks in green and blue. On their website, they begin by telling us all about the $12,000 tax credit you get from the Federal Government when you buy a hybrid truck. That is a very good selling point indeed. After all, if the product can’t save the consumer some money, it won’t be successful. As far as I can tell, Kenworth is only offering a limited number of hybrids trucks for now, but there are already some Kenworth medium-duty class-5 and class-6 hybrid trucks in use today. Kenworth’s line of hybrid trucks are scheduled for full production in 2009, as the 2010 deadline is approaching (in 2010 strict EPA diesel emissions regulations will be fully implemented).
Of course both truck manufacturers I have mentioned (Kenworth and Peterbilt) are corporately related under the Paccar name, just as Volvo, Freightliner, Western Star and Sterling are all related under the name of Daimler Trucks. It is actually Paccar that teamed up with Eaton to develop this latest hybrid technology. Kenworth, Peterbilt, Volvo and Freightliner are all using this same technology, and all four will have it for sale by next year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see every major truck manufacturer selling hybrids by the year 2010.
The Paccar/Eaton hybrid system combines electric and diesel power using a 340-volt battery system, which actually gets its energy when you use your brakes. However, it also gets some braking power from the electric motor, so that should help reduce brake wear. It’s designed for maximum efficiency during heavy traffic conditions, and can save fuel by as much as 30%. On the highway, however, it runs the diesel engine normally. So, the real fuel savings will only be done in stop-and-go traffic (this fact is something to seriously consider before actually buying a hybrid).
But that’s not all. Hybrids also have an idle reduction function that starts the engine for five minutes every hour. That five-minute run charges the 340-volt battery for the rest of the hour, enabling the use of heating and air conditioning, which can then just run on the batteries. So, considering the fuel savings in stop-and-go traffic and the idle reduction feature, there is a potential fuel savings of up to 40%. Wow, 40%! That just brought the price of fuel back down considerably. Now if we can just keep the fuel surcharges rolling, we just might just find ourselves in a profitable period in this industry.
The only question I have left is: how much are these trucks going to cost? I can’t seem to find that answer yet. With all the technology invested, I’m sure they won’t be cheap (but nothing good ever is). Hybrid cars haven’t really taken off on the open market as much as people thought they would, but hybrid trucks, now that’s a different story. Saving a few pennies per mile on your way to the grocery store is one thing, but saving a dollar every two minutes you work, now that’s huge. I fully expect these hybrid trucks to take the industry by storm over the next few years. I got lucky when I sold my last truck in 2004, just before the fuel crisis hit. If these hybrids do well, I just might even consider buying another truck again.