Five medium-duty beverage trucks fueled by propane autogas have begun operation at Nestlé Waters North America’s Los Angeles location. The trucks will deliver water to area businesses and private customers. Reasons cited for the purchase of the trucks include an alternative fuel system that maintains full factory warranty, ease of fueling, and low infrastructure cost. Nestlé Waters operates more than 2000 trucks nationwide, primarily fueled by diesel.
“Nestlé Waters North America is committed to delivering customers drinking water with reliable, innovative, and efficient green transportation solutions,” said Bill Ardis, company fleet manager. “Like many, we are evaluating the different technologies that offer savings over the life of the vehicle, and realized that propane autogas is a smart choice for reducing fuel and maintenance costs while providing cleaner air for the community.”
The Nestlé Waters Los Angeles location currently has onsite refueling for diesel trucks. The company chose to continue the practice by adding an onsite autogas station. Autogas fueling infrastructure is less expensive to install than all other transportation fuels—conventional or alternative. On average, autogas also costs up to 50% less than diesel. “Fueling beverage delivery trucks with propane autogas offers the best total cost of ownership, without compromising standard delivery procedures,” said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for Roush CleanTech. “By choosing this safe, abundant, and American-made fuel, fleets around the nation are reducing their operating costs and lowering their carbon footprint.”
Nestlé Waters purchased the medium-duty chassis and upfitted them with side-load beverage bodies at Mickey Body in High Point, N.C. Each truck is equipped with a California Air Resources Board- and Environmental Protection Agency-compliant Roush CleanTech autogas fuel system that provides a 45-usable-gallon fuel tank.