The Rhoads Energy Family of Companies, which provides heating fuel, HVAC and fleet fueling services in Central Pennsylvania and which has plenty of first-hand experience helping school districts convert bus fleets to LPG, has decided to commit to expanding its own Autogas service fleet of more than 20 vehicles over the next year.

The company will transition to a programme to lease new vehicles from Enterprise Fleet, many of which will be LPG-powered. The first set of vehicles, seven Ford Transit service vans and one Ford Explorer, were upgraded with Autogas kits. For this, Rhoads has taken advantage of the Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants (AFIG), a Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection initiative that will enable the company to defray part of the cost of converting vehicles to LPG and constructing Autogas stations.

Rhoads expects that it will have a fleet of more than 20 Autogas vehicles on the road during 2020. The company operates several regional brands, including E.G. Smith Inc., Boyertown Oil & Propane and V.R. Boltz. All will incorporate LPG-powered service vehicles into their fleets.

“We are going to realise significant savings with our new fleet, and we hope other companies will look at our experience and consider a transition of their own,” said CEO Michael DeBerdine, III. “There is plenty of evidence, both locally and nationally, that LPG-powered vehicles are better for our environment and better for a company’s bottom line.”

The trend toward Autogas vehicles in the U.S. has rapidly gained momentum. This fall, more than one million U.S. students will ride LPG-powered buses to school. In addition, a wide range of transit, commercial and other vehicle fleets have taken advantage of on-site fuelling possibilities offered by propane. For more information, please visit this link .

11 September 2019