BRONX, New York \u2014 At the turn of the century, a New York City study<\/a> found that children growing up in this densely populated borough had some of the highest asthma rates in the nation. In the Hunts Point neighborhood, home to the largest food distribution center on the East Coast, more than 1 in 5 elementary school children had asthma. Diesel trucks, which run in and out of distribution centers all day and night, were blamed.<\/p>\n \u201cCongressman Jos\u00e9 Serrano approached us about this report of high asthma in the South Bronx,\u201d said Simon Bergson, founder, president, and CEO of Manhattan Beer Distributors<\/a>\u00a0(MBD), one of the largest beverage distributors in the U.S. \u201cHe asked if we\u2019d be willing to do something to minimize the diesel fumes.\u201d<\/p>\n Using some federal subsidies available at the time, Manhattan Beer retrofitted 15 of its 200 heavy-duty diesel trucks to run on John Deere compressed natural gas (CNG) engines. \u201cWe did it, honestly, only because I thought it was the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The private fleet\u2019s first CNG-powered truck began operations in January 2001. Twenty years later, Bergson hasn\u2019t stopped looking for ways to reduce his fleet\u2019s carbon footprint as his company\u2019s operations have expanded. Half of the fleet\u2019s more than 400 trucks now run on CNG.<\/p>\n The fleet became even cleaner on Aug. 12 when Volvo Trucks North America<\/a>\u00a0(VTNA) delivered its first VNR Electric truck to an East Coast fleet. MBD expects to have five VNR Electrics in operation by the end of the year. And the company has\u00a0 plans through its local Volvo Trucks dealership, Milea Truck Sales and Leasing<\/a>, to buy 35 VNR Electric trucks a year for the next four years as it works toward a completely diesel-free fleet by 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we started this program back in 2001, my goal was to be diesel-free by 2020,\u201d Bergson said during a roundtable discussion with trucking industry media. \u201cIt didn’t come to fruition, mainly because the company also kept growing. And my fleet went from 200 to 400. So you know, that was good news, bad news.\u201d<\/p>\n Manhattan Beer\u2019s fleet includes more than 160 Volvo VNR and VNL CNG Class 8 trucks and on-site CNG filling stations at its five facilities in New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley. To support its new VNR Electric trucks, MBD installed three Level 3 DC fast chargers at its Bronx facility. They are capable of charging the Volvo trucks up 80% in 70 minutes.<\/p>\n When it first started converting to alternate fuels, Manhattan Beer\u2019s fleet burned about 1.5 million gallons of diesel per year. That is now down to 350,000 gallons, according to Juan Corcino, MBD\u2019s senior director of fleet operations and sustainability.<\/p>\n Corcino said that another benefit of moving from diesel is the trucks need less maintenance. \u201cBy going to CNG, you eliminate about 40% of all the parts that can break down on a truck, and you reduce the maintenance and\u00a0 have a more reliable vehicle.\u201d<\/p>\n He also noted that he doesn\u2019t have to worry about diesel freezing in the fleet\u2019s CNG trucks during the harsh New York winters. \u201cTransitioning to electric allows us to go deeper into a maintenance-free truck, where this truck doesn’t require an oil change,\u201d Corcino said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t get affected by cold weather. So we’re not only looking at an environmental-friendly truck, we’re looking at much more efficient trucks for our job.\u201d<\/p>\n The environmental benefit is the big bonus at first for MBC. BEVs need subsidizing to get going. Once they are more prevalent, \u201cwe foresee prices to go down and be more affordable to the point that you can afford the truck without an incentive and Volvo is working on reducing the price,\u201d Corcino said.<\/p>\n The total cost of ownership for BEV trucks could match diesel equipment by the middle of the decade\u2014depending on how battery technology develops, according to Peter Voorhoeve, VTNA president. Right now, he said, electricity is cheaper than diesel. And while the batteries that power Class 8 trucks, such as the VNR Electric, are one of \u201cthe most costly\u2014or very costly components\u2014as battery technology develops and energy density increases, the battery cost will go down. How quickly they will go down is a little bit difficult to say.\u201d<\/p>\n On the hottest day in New York this year\u2014as the late morning temperature continued to rise above 90 degrees\u2014a large gathering of local dignitaries and Manhattan Beer employees celebrated the VNR Electric\u2019s delivery. Politicians noted what a big moment it was for the largest city in the U.S. to get a taste of a cleaner future.<\/p>\n \u201cManhattan Beer Distributors has been leading for decades in this space of what it means to be a good neighbor to communities like the South Bronx,\u201d Amanda Septimo, who represents the South Bronx in the New York General Assembly, said during a press conference earlier in the day.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m from Hunts Point. I grew up not far from here,\u201d she said. \u201cWe hear the phrase \u2018environmental justice\u2019 and think that it means just the environment. But we lose sight of what the \u2018justice\u2019 part of it means. The \u2018justice\u2019 part of environmental justice means that it\u2019s really not fair that just because you are born in the South Bronx that you have a higher propensity to develop asthma in your lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n Manhattan Beer Distributors\u2019 Volvo VNR Electric purchases were assisted by state and city subsidies funded through New York State\u2019s Volkswagen settlement funds, through the New York City Department of Transportation\u2019s NYC Clean Trucks Program<\/a>. New York State\u2019s Volkswagen settlement plan, Clean Transportation NY<\/a>, was developed to reduce emissions in major transportation corridors, including Hunts Point, by funding zero-emission vehicles and equipment.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are the types of programs that really focus on the future,\u201d Septimo said. \u201cI want to thank Manhattan Beer Distributors for making sure that we all understand that a double bottom line can exist. That you can do good work, that you can make money, that you can be successful. And you don\u2019t have to cost the communities that you exist in.\u201d<\/p>\n VTNA\u2019s Voorhoeve likened the event to an Olympic relay team. \u201cWe needed to work together to get to the finish line today,\u201d he said during the press conference. \u201cWe played one role in this relay race\u2014and that was by developing the truck, which we started in 2018. We\u2019re now live. This is not a pilot or a tryout. This is just a normal commercial operation and it\u2019s a normal part of our offering.\u201d<\/p>\n Voorhoeve credited the NYC DOT\u2019s Clean Truck Program, vehicle charging company Gilbarco Veeder-Root<\/a>, Milea Truck Sales, and others as part of the relay team that led to the first BEV heavy-duty truck to begin operations in the Northeast. Milea is the first Volvo EV Certified Dealer on the East Coast, joining five certified dealers on the West Coast. \u201cWe\u2019re really, really grateful for the opportunity,\u201d Voorhoeve said later in the day. \u201cThis is a huge step. It\u2019s a huge event.\u201d<\/p>\n While long-haul BEVs are further away, the regional distribution of a company such as MBC in a congested metropolis \u201cis the ideal location to get started,\u201d Voorhoeve said.<\/p>\n MBC\u2019s first VNR Electric will service customers in Manhattan, where routes originating in the Bronx range from 15 miles to 35 miles and take six to nine hours, Bergson said. The stop-and-go nature of delivery on Manhattan benefits electric vehicles because of regenerative braking.<\/p>\n Corcino said the electric Volvo trucks could handle any of MBD\u2019s New York City routes\u2014which average about 60 miles. While the VNR Electric trucks will begin on shorter routes, they would be capable of handling the longer city routes for two days on one charge, according to routing projections by Volvo and MBD.<\/p>\n Bergson, who founded Manhattan Beer with one truck in 1978, always looks for ways to show his company\u2019s environmental friendliness in an industry that often gets criticized for its carbon footprint. For example, MBD installed a 191,000 sq ft solar farm seven years ago on its Bronx warehouse roof. It also has smaller solar farms\u2014that are still more than 100,000 sq ft\u2014on its Brooklyn and Suffern, New York, facilities.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really just the right thing to do\u2014and it does cost a little bit more money,\u201d he said of phasing out diesel trucks. \u201cIf anything, it costs more, not less. I did think from a marketing perspective that if there were a customer out there and they had the option to buy from the Budweiser distributor or the Manhattan Beer guy who sells brands other than Budweiser\u2014and the Manhattan Beer\u2019s delivering on a clean energy vehicle versus the other guy who\u2019s delivering on a diesel. Maybe the customer would take our selection.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a thought process that I could market it a certain way,\u201d he continued. \u201cBut you know, it is the right thing to do for our planet, for our future, and for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n By Josh Fisher<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nDitching diesel<\/h3>\n
\u2018Huge event\u2019 for New York<\/h3>\n
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