Truck Emissions Summary

[Kathy Myers <magnumsmom@aol.com>]

Once again, thank you to everyone who wrote me about hauling
truck emissions.  I tried really hard to write everyone back
personally.  I got some really good responses, however, even
us computer savay types sometimes lose emails... which I
managed to do... so I'll summarize here instead of trying to
remember exactly who said what.  Although I will say that I
got some great information from Gary Fend who works in the
emissions area here in California.  Good resource for those
of you out there with questions.  Please excuse my ignorance
if I get something wrong here.

Basically, the deal with fuels other than diesel and gasoline
such as Compressed Natural Gas and Propane is that they contain
less BTU's per gallon... ie, if your V8 is burning a gallon of
gasoline to go 12 miles and you have your V8 converted to
burn propane instead expect to only get 10 miles per gallon out
of the propane.  If, like me, you expect to need a V10 gas
engine to haul with and 8 miles per gallon of gas is too much
then 6 miles per gallon of propane is daunting!  And, yes,
it is sometimes difficult to obtain propane even from a station
which sells it.  Apparently the people trained to deal with
propane dispensing have to be working at the time you pull in
to purchase it.

Which is why we have gas and diesel truck engines.  There is
no good "clean" alternative yet for medium and heavy duty
trucks.

The problem my husband has with diesel is the theory diesel
particulates are carcinogens... kinda like asbestos.  It has to
do with the size of the particles and the tendancy for them to get
stuck in the lining of your lungs and just stay there.  Thus my
quest for an alternative, or even just buying a gas guzzling V10
American Muscle Truck.  What could be more fun than that?

As suspected, V10 gas engines pulling horse trailers tend to
get 7 or 8 miles per gallon.  Or less.  --- sigh ---  If you
really can purchase petrol for less than $1.00 per gallon in
some states on the east coast, that's great.  But I can't travel
that far from here to buy gas.  Actually, it doesn't really make
sense for me to travel any distance at 8 miles per gallon to buy
gas.  Which the California gas industry has figured out... so
our cost has hung at $1.70 per gallon for regular since early
last spring.  Add to that the fact that if *I* buy a V10 gas
truck, local prices would instantly jump to $2.50 per gallon
and stay there.  :)

Gary pointed out an interesting point.  First, there is no
real data to suggest that (other than particulates themselves)
visible diesel emissions are any more toxic than invisible
gas emissions... and I confirmed that by doing an extensive
web search on the subject within California.  Here started
the rationalization for just buying that Cummins Turbo Diesel.

The second very interesting point he made was that the refineries
for gas and diesel are very different.  Gas refineries tend to
put out much more polution than diesel refineries.  Basically,
the polution comes out before it goes into your tank, or after.
So there may not really be that big a difference between the
two if you take the big picture into account.

The third and final rationalization for the diesel engine...
which had the hubby out collecting diesel truck brosures as
fast as he could... is the cost of operation.  At 20 miles
per gallon vs 8 miles per gallon and the tendancy of diesel
prices to be a bit more stable than gas prices... especially
if you have access to a "truck stop"... he figured we could
basically pay for a new truck by 150,000 miles with the fuel
cost savings of the diesel engine over the gas engine.  The
diesel engine pays for itself in short order.

Once again, as I have figured out many times over the last
4 years, I have come to the conclussion that the best option
for me is a 3/4 ton diesel truck.  As one ridecamper kindly
pointed out:  "Just don't lug the engine."

So, cross your fingers.  If my checkbook OK's it, I'm off
to order my truck this weekend.  I know, I've said it before.
But this time I really mean it.  Really.  really.  Thanks
again for everyone's great input on this subject.

:) - Kat Myers
in No. Cal. with Magnum the TB ex-racer
and Mr Maajistic... resident endurance Arab / Weasel
PS... an interesting note on the California Emissions
concerns I found out on the web.  There wasn't much about
pickup trucks.  Their biggest concerns apparently are stationary
engines, big engines (ever seen a cruise ship idling in port?),
and... get this,  corner dry cleaners.  One more little diesel
pickup on the road isn't going to make a splash in the big
scheme of California Emissions concerns.



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