Bus owners are turning to alternative fuels for a number of reasons, but the most common motive is savings. With the high price of gas, fleet owners are willing to try more experimental options for the sake of keeping their bottom line down. It just happens to be that these alternative fuels are also better for the environment than burning gasoline.
But, a school district in Indiana is discovering some alternative fuels can provide savings in ways they didn’t even consider. Since incorporating five buses powered by propane autogas to their 160 bus fleet, the Tippecanoe School Corp. (TSC) has found the propane buses also allow for easier and less costly maintenance.
During a discussion with the Propane Education & Research Council, TSC’s Alan Fidler said, “Overall, it’s been very simple and we’ve only had to perform routine maintenance on the propane autogas-powered buses. It’s been much easier than working with diesel because of all the emission controls on new diesel engines, which seem to have a lot of problems.”
According to Fidler’s reports, routine maintenance is also more affordable with the propane buses. Fidler claims the diesel buses require 32 quarts of oil per oil change, compared to the paltry seven quarts needed for the propane buses. The diesel engines also require two fuel filters which cost $40 each, while the propane bus only calls for one less expensive filter.
“In sum, the school district could change the oil in a propane bus almost five times before matching the price of what it costs to change the oil once in the diesel bus,” Fidler said. “When you tally the cost of oil and what we spend on fuel filters, the savings really add up with propane autogas.”
Fidler also noted that during the winter months, TSC has to plan for the additional cost of fuel additives for diesel, while propane requires no additives.
“You have to either blend your diesel fuel with kerosene to avoid gelling, which can add up to $3,000 to $5,000, or you have to use an anti-gel,” Fidler said. “The kerosene has a tendency to dry up the diesel, but if you don’t blend, the anti-gel is even more expensive and can put the bus out for a longer time period. We don’t have these issues with propane.”
He concluded, “We service both our propane and diesel buses in the same area,” Fidler said. “We didn’t have to add any special equipment or make any adjustments to the maintenance shop for the new propane autogas buses. It was a very turnkey process.”
