This year’s NTEA Green Truck Summit was kicked off with a keynote address by Patrick Davis, director of the Vehicle Technologies Office in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) at the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), who joined the attendees via video link due to the ongoing winter weather storms.

“There’s good news on the way,” Davis said when describing the increasing number of choices in alternative fuels and the vehicles powered by them, “as well as fuel economy standards that will help save fleets billions of dollars.”

Davis spoke about the need for infrastructure to support these various alt fuels, as well as the increasing acceptance of them, pointing to the fact that 50 percent of the refuse haulers being sold are powered by natural gas. He also talked about the DOE’s role in the increasing presence of both natural gas and propane autogas.

“The DOE is helping communities prepare for this change to make it easier for fleets to work with their local governments,” Davis said.

After Davis’ video sign-off, attendees were soon greeted by U.S. Representative Gary Peters, who was on hand to via telephone to present U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow with the Green Truck Leadership Award. Sen. Stabenow was honored for her work with the Advance Vehicle Technology Act, which she co-sponsored, as well as improving the 21^st Century Truck Partnership, a program that addresses national challenges related to medium-duty and heavy-duty truck efficiency, safety, and emissions by pursuing collaborative research and development among government and industry partners.

“This will have a place of honor in my office,” Stabenow said while holding the award via video link in Washington, D.C. “We are making sure you have the tools you need to meet the new fuel economy standards that are coming. We are also making sure we are creating jobs and helping companies save money by saving fuel.”

After Stabenow’s sign-off, attendees were presented with a number of panel discussions that covered alternative-fuel truck deployments and trends, an overview of the past and current state of natural gas usage in the country, as well as case studies on successful implementations of alternative fuel vehicles in a trio of fleets.