USA, California
To help improve regional air quality, Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) has entered a collaborative demonstration effort with California Cartage Co. (Cal Cartage) and Autocar to develop and put into service the nation’s first CNG trucks used to transport containers off-loaded from ships. Five trucks will be delivered in June 2008 and used to move containers between the San Pedro Bay ports, which include the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, to nearby freight-consolidation yards.
The trucks will be manufactured by Autocar and are powered by Cummins
Westport ISLG engines. The engines are certified to meet the US EPA
stringent 2010 on-road emission standards. The heavy-duty trucks are
the first in the nation in commercial port drayage service.
Approximately two-thirds of the 17 million containers coming into the
San Pedro Bay ports are moved by truck within 25 miles of the docks.
Cal Cartage, the largest trucking company operating at the Los Angeles
and Long Beach ports, will operate the CNG-powered trucks. Following
the initial 12- to 18-month demonstration project, SoCalGas hopes to
then further reduce emissions from the CNG drayage trucks by switching
the fuel from CNG to a CNG/hydrogen blend. This CNG/hydrogen fuel
blend is widely regarded as an important gateway to a hydrogen future
for the transportation sector, because the fuel has been proven to
reduce nitrogen-oxides emissions from natural gas engines by an
additional 30 to 50 percent.
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