Spokane to buy 90 Peterbilt 320 CNG refuse trucks

[kscarbel2]

KLXY / August 3, 2015

The City of Spokane unveiled its newest compressed natural gas garbage trucks Monday morning.

Overall, the city will replace 90 trucks over the next seven years, cutting its green house gas emission by 20 percent.

While CNG trucks cost around $30,000 more than standard diesel, the city says that cost is recouped in three years, through fuel and maintenance savings.

The city estimates the new CNG vehicles, which cost $360,000 per unit, will save the city around $8,000 a year per truck compared to the older diesel models.

The new CNG trucks are expected to last about 10 years, while the natural gas tanks on the new vehicles have to be recertified every five years.

"One of the things you're going to notice is the emissions package on these trucks, much smaller, much tighter, much less maintenance than compared to a diesel powered truck so it's huge for us," said Scott Windsor, Director of Solid Waste Collections for the City of Spokane.

Compressed natural gas trucks aren't more fuel efficient but gas is less expensive than diesel by about a dollar. For now, the CNG trucks will fill up at Avista Utilities until the city finishes a refueling station at its new utility central service center in about two weeks.

Related reading - http://www.peterbilt.com/products/alternative-fuels/320/

.