American Disposal Services, a recycling and waste collection firm with operations in Virginia, Georgia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, has debuted its first pair of heavy-duty natural gas vehicles, marking the beginning of an initiative to shift the entire fleet to compressed natural gas (CNG).
The trucks – both Mack vehicles with McNeilus bodies – will go into regular service in Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia. American Disposal Services is expecting delivery of three more NGVs this month, which will expand the company's CNG-powered footprint into Montgomery County, Va.
Of the five new NGVs, three are front-load, and two are rear-load. They all feature dedicated CNG systems paired with the 8.9-liter Cummins Westport ISL G natural gas engine, with 90 DGE of on-board CNG storage.
In terms of refueling, American Disposal Services will initially access CNG at a fast-fill station in Loudoun County that was developed by Clean Energy Fuels and is currently operated by Quarles Energy Services. The company is planning to build its own CNG refueling infrastructure – with both time- and fast-fill components – at its facility in Manassas, Va.
Overall, American Disposal Services' plans for CNG are significant. The company has a fleet of 140 heavy-duty vehicles based in Virginia, and another 35 in Georgia. Every one of them will, in time, move from diesel to CNG. Going forward, diesel-powered trucks will not be a part of its routine fleet-replacement procurement.
The company is committed to natural gas, but the exact path of its initiative – in terms of which service territories will receive CNG trucks and when – is to be determined.
‘We are constantly evolving,’ Kevin Edwards, general manager of American Disposal Services, tells NGT News. ‘We want to start here, close to home at our main operation in Virginia, and go from there.’
