Utilities to Drive Hybrid Repair Trucks This morning a 16-ton "bucket truck" silently rolled up to a plaza in front of PG&E's San Francisco headquarters. The International truck can run up to 35 miles an hour on its electric drive train made by Eaton, according to Efrain Ornelas, PG&E senior program manager for clean air transportation. Batteries also power the bucket that lifts workers up to power lines. In a conventional bucket truck that equipment is powered by the vehicle's diesel engine, which is left idling and spewing carbon while the repair work is being performed. "Normally when one of these trucks is working in a neighborhood it's so loud you can't hear yourself talk," said Ornelas as the bucket quietly lifted a technician into the air. more at the link below: http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/200...ies-to-dri.html
I spent quite a lot of time in a bucket doing bridge inspection work. Our bucket truck was a very heavy-duty Ford with a huge V-8 that ran the whole time the bucket was being used, which could be all day. Using a hybrid system to power the bucket will save many, many gallons of fuel. Harry
Purolator in my area uses hybrid delivery trucks. They proudly stick their decals "HYBRID-ELECTRIC" on the side with something about cleaner air and the future... Quite refreshing to see a large truck driving by in EV mode...rather than holding your breath and letting the diesel smoke dissipate.
New Jersey to Replace Utility Fleet with Hybrids When it comes to being clean and green, California often gets the glory, what with the governator and all those Prius-driving eco-celebrities. But New Jersey - yes, New Jersey - gives the Golden State a run for its money when it comes to fighting global warming. The state offers some of the state's biggest incentives for solar power and today New Jersey's largest utility, Public Service Electric and Gas (PEG) announced it's replacing a quarter of its 5,000-vehicle fleet with hybrids and biodiesel-powered trucks over the next decade. more at the link below: http://blogs.business2.com/greenwombat/200...ersey_to_r.html
It'd be nice to see the local garbage men use hybrid trucks, it was fine about 6+ years ago, 3 men per truck, 2 would walk down the street throwing garbage into a larger bucket, then dump that into the truck that was waiting a block (short blocks) away. Now they have 1 man trucks, the guy drives one house, grabs the pretty colored roller cans hooks them up, poof, get in the truck, drive one more house away... poof again. And to give you an idea this is in San Francisco, you can spit past a house.
ours is automated. You just need the driver who has good driving skill and can align the truck properly. Then the robotic arm extends and picks up the garbage bin.