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Fleets Tighten Their Belts
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By Jim Galligan
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Utility and telecom fleets are committed to buying more alternative fuel vehicles, but their high costs create a challenge for fleet managers working with tighter budgets.
Utility and telecommunication fleets showed this past year that they are as vulnerable to a recessionary economy and tight credit almost as much as commercial fleets as several managers said they lowered operating costs, cut back on vehicle purchases and, in some cases, shifted to smaller vehicles.
At the same time, these highly visible fleets are aggressively exploring alternative-fuel options. Electric utilities are excited about the potential of being able to recharge electric hybrids and all-electric vehicles by plugging into their own power grids, giving them fuel for practically pennies compared with gasoline or diesel. Telecom fleets are trying to find a balance between the high operating costs that come with these alternative power vehicles and the indefinable marketing value that comes with being “green”.
Brooklyn-based Consolidated Edison (No. 16 on Light & Medium Truck’s Top 50 Utility & Telecom Fleets list), like all fleets contacted for this article, was trying a variety of vehicles to get the best mix.
Kenneth Jack, general manager of transportation, said the fleet began shifting to an all-diesel medium-duty fleet to improve fuel economy. About 40% are using biodiesel. ConEd also is returning to natural gas vehicles. The utility bought 25 NG vehicles last year and will phase in 20 to 30 a year in the future, Jack said.
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“ConEd had a huge [compressed natural gas] fleet in the ’90s,” Jack told L&MT. “As the products went away, those vehicles aged and disappeared. Now, manufacturers are getting back into it.”
Until the fuel price spikes hit last summer CenturyTel, Monroe, La. (No. 24) had planned to move up to Ford F-250 pickups to replace older, aging Ford Ranger compact pickups, said Mysti Bankston, acting fleet manager. Now, smaller is better.
“When we saw the drastic fuel increases and the decrease in mpg [with the 250s], we were convinced that the F-150 was the way to go,” she said. “We can still get the job done with the 150.”
Meanwhile, CenturyTel is in the process of acquiring much-larger Embarq, Overland Park, Kan. (No. 8). The new company will be headquartered in Monroe and be called CenturyLink.
Jerry Olsen, manager of fleet operations with Idaho Power, Boise (No. 4
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