Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/324702
June 2014 | Overdrive | 29 for both lower maintenance costs and improved aftermarket value, says Eggen. Ervin's sells Freightliner Coronado and Columbia models, and they cost about 10 to 15 percent less than a simi- larly spec'd factory truck. A Coronado from Fitzgerald starts at about $109,900, and its Peterbilt 389 starts at $126,500. Compared to a similarly spec'd factory truck, that's also about 10 to 15 percent cheaper, says Tommy Fitzgerald. Initial equipment costs aside, Fitzger- ald concentrates its builds on lower cost of ownership through fuel economy and lower cost of maintenance. "We set the engine up to where it can be more efficient," says Tommy Fitzgerald. Fuel economy benefits, he says, are achieved through special programming of the engine's electronic control module and from the external and internal parts used in the engine rebuilding process. He says that based on customer feed- back, its gliders are getting 7 miles per gallon or higher. The company also has its own routing placement for hoses and wiring designed to make maintenance work easier. "Through fuel mileage and maintenance costs, it has a lower cost of operation year by year," Tommy Fitzgerald says. Ervin's tailors its sales to "high-idle" applications such as mining, logging, construction, bulk transport and oil field hauling. Diesel particulate filters and EGR engines don't fit these appli- cations as well as a non-EGR engine, Eggen says. Long-haul applications may not see the same benefits as the higher-idle applications because DPFs on post- 2007 trucks are able to regenerate more effectively, he says. Perhaps of most interest to many buyers, gliders employ the simpler, prov- en technology of pre-EGR engines, says Tony Mohler, used truck manager for Nashville Rush Truck Center. "There's Glider kits can give owner-operators an easier, cheaper way to delve into natural gas power than buying a new dedicated truck off the lot, says Lyle Jensen, chief executive officer of American Power Group, which works with glider kit makers and truck buyers to employ a dual-fuel system. A glider kit that employs the dual-fuel system runs about $50,000 less than a new truck fully powered by natural gas. The system is installed at the end of a glider kit build and costs about $30,000, which can be financed either with the truck or separately through APG. The system allows the engine to burn a mixture of natural gas and diesel, but the engine still can run exclusively on diesel if natural gas is not available. Jensen says the devices can save own- er-operators between $1,000 and $2,000 a month in fuel, given natural gas' price. The system costs between $700 and $850 a month on a 48-month lease, depending on a buyer's credit history, Jensen says. Buyers then have the option to purchase the system by paying the remaining balance at the end. But the system has a 20-year life and can be moved from truck to truck, so savings can continue to be seen well after the two-year installment payments are up, Jensen says. Both Fitzgerald and Ervin's collabo- rate with APG on the system, which is installed through the WheelTime network. The system includes a natural gas fuel tank, hoses and other components to route natural gas and inject it into the cylinders, and installation. Gliders offer simple way to natural Gas use June 2014 | Overdrive | 29 Brian Bourke Gliders_0614.indd 29 6/3/14 10:47 AM