Jun 19, 2008 11:16 pm US/Central
Schwan's Delivery Trucks Powered By Propane
(WCCO)
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Schwan learned their lesson the hard way during the oil crisis of the '70s and they didn't want it to happen again.
Schwan's
Dudley Thomas delivers Schwan Foods products to all his regular customers. He makes about 100 stops a day and drives anywhere from 70 to 100 miles on each daily route. He drives the familiar yellow trucks Minnesotans have gotten to know.
Customer Rose Garrison of Savage Minnesota likes the convenience.
"He comes to the door and I don't have to go to the store and use my own gas," said Garrison.
Surprisingly, Dudley's truck doesn't use gas either. The simple looking rectangle on wheels is actually pretty sophisticated. The large traveling freezer carries nearly 400 different products, but it doesn't need gasoline. The rig runs on propane.
Schwan trucks at the satellite station in Eagan, and in 48 states all across the country, are filled with propane every morning before the drivers head out on their routes. Propane is the same stuff that runs your BBQ grill. Schwan learned their lesson the hard way during the oil crisis of the '70s and they didn't want it to happen again. The oil embargo made the company panic and was a real wake-up call.
"Our sales were based on the fact that we're driving down the road and going to people's houses, and so that's really where the concern came in and said 'We need to do something different,'" said Shannon Lens, Director of Fleet Acquisition at Schwan Foods.
What they did was take the mandate of Schwan Foods founder Marvin Schwan to find an alternative fuel. They discovered propane being used on a very small scale in Ohio. They eventually bought the propane technology and started converted their trucks. By the 1980s, most of the fleet was propane powered.
Today, it owns a company called Bi-phase technology that makes the conversion systems. The propane is stored in tanks on the side of the truck. Each tank has a pump. A hose with a special design then delivers the liquid propane to the injectors made at Bi-Phase.
Propane turns to vapor at very low temperatures. Keeping it liquid is what makes this system unique. Victor Vandyke, the General Manager of Bi-Phase is proud of the conversion system.
"This technology is heavily patented. We have six ongoing patents with 99 claims for each part of the system," said Vandyke.
Everything else in the truck stays the same.
"Once you remove the gasoline system and you install our system on the truck, all the service providers can diagnose and operate the vehicle as it would be on gasoline," Vandyke added.
Schwan's pays about $2 a gallon for propane and gets a government tax incentive for using a green fuel. More than 5,200 yellow trucks nationwide run on propane.
The company estimates it saved about $35 million in fuel costs last year. It's also proud of the fact you never see a puff of black smoke coming out of those trucks.
"This truck was the first truck ever to be certified as an ultra low emission vehicle," said Vandyke.
Propane comes from natural gas and crude oil. It's the first byproduct of the refining process. That blue flame you may see burned off at refineries is propane, because other than barbeques and homes in remote areas, there's not a big demand for it.
So why isn't it used in more cars?
"We receive phone calls every day from people who want to convert to use propane," said Vandyke.
Schwan's is actively exploring the possibility of making the system available to other vehicles outside the company.
One concern is training dealers to install the system properly. The other big question, "where do you fill up? "
"The biggest challenge with commercial is the ability to get the fuel, it's not like you can stop into the local gas station and fuel up. You have to kind of plan your trip," said Shannon Lens.
The National Propane Gas Association estimates there about 200,00 vehicles running on propane in the U.S. and could be many more with the development of widespread fueling stations.
About two years ago, Schwan's added a $1 delivery fee per order but says it has no intention of tacking on any more fees in the near future.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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