Tought Leader
Making the Right Decision: How to Select Today’s School Bus Engine
WRITTEN BY ROBERT T. PUDLEWSKI O
ver the past 14 years, federal emissions standards for school buses and trucks led to the introduction of Cooled Exhaust Gas Recirculation in 2002, Diesel Oxidation
Catalyst in 2004 and Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel in 2006. A year later, Diesel Particulate Filters came upon the scene, followed by Selective Catalytic Reduction in 2010. Ten, just two years ago, the Phase 1 fuel-effi- ciency rules for trucks went into effect, with a new set of even higher mpg standards being required come January of next year. Last summer, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Pro- tection Agency (EPA) issued proposed greenhouse gas emissions and fuel economy regulations for model years 2021 through 2027. Compared with 2018 levels, the long anticipated Phase 2 rules would cut carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption in vocational vehicles like school buses by up to 16 percent in 2027. Te newly proposed separate standards for engines
and vehicles would apply to heavy- and medium-duty trucks, all work trucks and buses and large pickup trucks and vans. In the rulemaking proposal, NHTSA and EPA claim that operators of 2027 model year vocational vehicles would recover the added cost of new engine technology through fuel savings. Tese regulations begin taking effect in 2020 and
finalize in 2027. So what should you look out for in the alternative and base engine applications in school buses over the next few years? Te ever changing regulatory environment and the
resulting rapid changes to school bus power train packages have led us to conclude that we can’t possibly keep up with and test everything ourselves. We have to rely on networking efforts to provide a deeper dive to what makes operational sense for our school bus transportation pro- grams than we could ever achieve by going at it alone. When the industry chose gasoline and diesel back in
the day, it did so because these fuels had high energy content and were easy to deploy. We could get fuel anywhere. Today, we no longer simply have one or two fuel choices. It is a little more complex than that now,
40 School Transportation News • JULY 2016
but each choice, each option has something to offer. Every, oil, gas, electric fuel or hybrid variant has its own return on investment (ROI), the key to implementing one for successful fleet operations is finding the one that works best for your fleet application, whether it be cold, warm climate, hills, mountains, city, suburban or rural environments.
An additional alternative to traditional diesel is the so
called “forgotten” fuel, bio-diesel. Bio-diesel and renewable diesel fuels offer a variety
of energy security, economic and environmental benefits. One of the most frequently cited benefits is their ability to help the United States offset its need for foreign oil imports and move toward energy indepen- dence. Tey have also drawn strong support from the agricultural community, which would benefit from increased farm income. As reported by the Diesel Technology Forum, from
an environmental perspective, biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels can reduce emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter. Diesel vehicles are natu- rally 20 to 40 percent more energy efficient than gasoline vehicles, resulting in a 10- to 20-percent reduction in GHG emissions. Using biodiesel and renewable diesel fu- els can further reduce carbon dioxide emissions anywhere from 20 to 60 percent. Vehicle owners should review the individual engine and equipment manufacturers’ specific warranty provisions and policies regarding the use of bio- diesel or renewable diesel blends in their equipment. District and contractor fleet operators have to come into the alternative fuel selection process with eyes wide open, with the first step being to really understand how your existing vehicles get used every day. If you have a mixed fleet, as most operations do, then you are going to have to pick and choose where you use alternative fuels to hit the operational ROI. Te second step, of course, is to understand the costs. Alternative power vehicles are always going to have
incremental costs and fleets have to find a way to repay those costs, some believe the costs will eventually come down. However, the vehicles themselves cost more now, and there may also be additional upfront costs related to building fueling stations and modifying maintenance
Robert T. Pudlewski, is STN’s technical editor and a 40-plus year veteran of the school bus industry.
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