Utah State Univ. gives mixed review to natural gas fleet
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune, August 6, 2007
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6555418
Utah State University officials say they are happy with the school’s fleet of nine natural gas-powered buses. But the school is getting rid of seven natural gas-powered trucks. The Herald Journal newspaper reports today that USU first began using both types of vehicles in the 1990s. But USU’s director of business services for the facilities department, Eileen Campbell, says problems with the trucks began almost immediately. The did not prove reliable, and the tanks took up a lot of room in the truck beds. Campbell also says just putting natural gas in the trucks was time-consuming, anf touchy: if the fuel was put in too quickly, air would get into the tank.
The Herald Journal says that as a result, this year USU started returning the trucks to the state government, which leased the vehicles to them in 1998. USU is choosing standard gasoline vehicles to replace them for now - though it will consider using hybrid truck or golf carts in the future. But USU’s bus operations supervisor, Alden Erickson, says he is “very happy” with his natural gas vehicles. Erickson credits his success with the buses to careful maintenance.