Green is the new black! That’s the statement I made in my very first online blog post back in 2010. Now, as I write my 100th blog post, I realize green isn’t the “new” anything anymore. It’s become part of the mainstream for fleets.
Back then, I urged fleet owners to consider domestic sources of energy—and eight years later I still do. Clean-burning, domestically sourced fuels are not flashes in the pan. They remain abundantly available and I’ve been lucky to be along for the ride for the better part of a decade.
Obviously, there is still plenty of room for growth in alternative fuels. After all, they are still called “alternative.” But more fleet owners than ever before are aware of CNG, propane and even electric as options for operating their vehicles. Options that also meet today’s stricter emissions regulations and communities’ desires for cleaner air.
Fleets that choose non-diesel fuels realize savings in operational costs. In a 2015 blog post, I mentioned a U.S. Energy Department report that noted some school districts cut their cost per mile by nearly half by using propane school buses instead of diesel. These kinds of returns matter today, too, when school budgets remain tight and administrators must make tough spending choices. Just like schools, municipal and corporate fleets can benefit from lower operational costs, too.
You might say only death and taxes remain certainties, but I look back at one of my posts in 2011 about government subsidies for alternative fuels and realize that legislative fluctuations will always be around, too. For fleet owners, the current good news is there are incentives you can take advantage of right now.
As the number of alternatively fueled vehicles continues to rise, I’m confident that new technologies and innovations will give me with plenty to discuss with you in the months, or maybe even years, ahead.
Cheers to the next 100, and as always, if you have questions about alternative fuels or how they could benefit your fleet, leave a comment here or join the conversation here.
