Most of the vehicles or trucks used in the freight transportation businesses need more power for hauling heavy loads. Most of them are dependent on the diesel and other petroleum gas or fuels that can give the power to match this requirement. But with the increasing price of the oil in the world market and the increasing effects of global warming and green house gases caused mostly by the car’s emission, the government and other private sectors have found ways to find alternative fuels. Most car manufacturers have joined this brigade by making hybrid cars that are running using the alternative fuels. Most of the freight transportation companies have also aligned with this move and they use the latest alternative fuel technology for freight transportation systems.
Top carriers such as FedEx and UPS have started their moves to not to depend on the petroleum fuels in their big trucks. Big trucks have greater consumptions and are always used for longer trips. With the present and ongoing oil price hike, using these trucks would mean more fuel costs. With their aim to give good and fast services at affordable prices, these companies can’t just add the burden to their customers. If they charge their customers higher than their usual charges, there is a tendency to lose more customers and even closure of the business. So to keep their customers and to keep their business alive, these freight transporting companies have resorted to the use of alternative fuel technology for freight uses.
At present several alternative fuel technologies are available for all types of vehicles. These include the biodiesel, electricity, ethanol, hydrogen, methanol, natural gas, and propane. More are still under development such as the biobutanol, biogas, biomas-to-liquid fuels, and Fischer-Tropsch diesel. The currently available alternative fuel technology for freight uses are the propane, compressed natural gas (CNG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG). These fuels give the same power that the petroleum fuels can give in powering heavy trucks and vehicles. Some trucks and haulers of the FedEx and UPS are now running using these fuel technologies. They use the alternative fuels to cut more on their fuel costs and even on the customer charges. Electricity is not included in their choice of fuel for use in freight transporting vehicles. Larger trucks need more power and have larger motors that can’t be supported by electricity alone.
The use of alternative fuel technology for freight forwarders not only helps freight transporting companies in cutting their fuel costs. Using these technologies is also their way of helping the government and other institutions in their worldwide battle against environmental concerns such as global warming and the increase of the green house gases in the world.
