Demonstrating and evaluating heavy-duty alternative fuel operations

The principal objectives of this project was to understand the effects of using an alternative fuel on a truck operating fleet through actual operation of trucks. Information to be gathered was expected to be anecdotal, as opposed to statistically viable, because the Trucking Research institute (TRI) recognized that projects could not attract enough trucks to produce statistically credible volumes of data. TRI was to collect operational data, and provide them to NREL, who would enter the data into the alternative fuels database being constructed for heavy-duty trucks at the time. NREL would also perform data analysis, with the understanding that the demonstrations were generally pre-production model engines and vehicles. Other objectives included providing information to the trucking industry on the availability of alternative fuels, developing the alternative fuels marketplace, and providing information on experience with alternative fuels. In addition to providing information to the trucking industry, an objective was for TRI to inform NREL and DOE about the industry, and give feedback on the response of the industry to developments in alternative fuels in trucking. At the outset, only small numbers of vehicles participated in most of the projects. Therefore, they had to be considered demonstrations of feasibility, rather than data gathering tests from which statistically significant conclusions might be drawn. Consequently, data gathered were expected to be useful for making estimates and obtaining valuable practical lessons. Project data and lessons learned are the subjects of separate project reports. This report concerns itself with the work of TRI in meeting the overall objectives of the TRI-NREL partnership