In two weeks, I’ll be at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, attending the 2008 Alternative Fuels & Vehicles National Conference & Expo, hosted by the Las Vegas-based Alternative Fuel Vehicles Institute (AFVi). This will be my fourth time at this event, and I can vouch for this being the most important fuel-efficiency and energy independence event of the year for the transportation industry. I strongly urge any fleet manager who is trying to use less petroleum fuel, cut fuel costs, and “green” his or her fleet to attend.

Why am I such a big fan? Because the people who attend this event aren’t just flapping their jaws about pie-in-the-sky solutions to our nation’s fuel problems; they’re putting real solutions in place today, and they’re making things happen now. This event, to be held May 11-14, is jam-packed with amazing educational sessions, an eye-popping technology showcase, a fantastic ride-and-drive (with vehicles that can get 175 mpg!) and numerous networking opportunities. And, best of all, Tuesday, May 13th is “Fleet Day,” an entire day dedicated to addressing the needs and concerns of fleet managers and operators. If you are considering biodiesel, natural gas, ethanol, propane or electric vehicles for your fleet, you’ll find an educational session on Fleet Day that will answer your questions and put you in touch with the right people to help you on your way. I’ll even be moderating a panel that day on fuel-saving technologies for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.

To register for the Alternative Fuels & Vehicles National Conference & Expo, click here.

Two weeks ago I rented a car to drive from Wisconsin to Indianapolis for a meeting, and when I got to the rental office I was given the choice of two minivans: a Toyota Sienna and a Chevy Uplander. I wasn’t very thrilled with my choices, but then I noticed that the Chevy was a FlexFuel vehicle, and my attitude changed.

Here in the Midwest, E85 is cheap and plentiful. It normally sells for about 60 cents a gallon less than a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline. What could be better? I could go to Indianapolis and back and use a fraction of the gasoline, and spend a fraction of the money, that I would have used in a regular vehicle!

There was no way of knowing what was already in the Uplander’s tank of course, but I was hopeful that the previous renter had had the wisdom to fill up with E85. So I set out for Indianapolis, confident that I would be making at least a small difference.

I only used three-quarters of a tank on the drive to Indy, so when I set out for home the next day I knew the moment of truth would come, oh… about midway through Illinois. And Illinois, like Wisconsin and Indiana, is corn country. I knew there would be E85 stations along the interstate every few miles, offering cheap, clean, domestically-produced ethanol at bargain prices. I even started seeing Burma-shave style rhyming roadsigns in cornfields! Oh yes, this was ethanol heaven, for sure.

But as my gas gauge sank closer and closer to ‘E’, I started to worry. I hadn’t seen any sign that the filling stations along the highway were selling E85, and when I started pulling off into the small towns of eastern Illinois, I found station after station selling straight gasoline, and nothing more. I even asked a clerk at one filling station if she knew of any stations in the area that sold E85. She looked at me blankly and said, “E-what?”

Discouraged, I put $20 of regular gas in the tank and kept looking, but I came up empty. No E85 in sight. What could have gone wrong? Well, I could have done the smart thing and checked the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition Website (www.e85fuel.com) and found the addresses to 170 stations in Illinois that sell E85–you read that right: 170! But I was not smart. I wanted to see if I could find the magic fuel unaided, and in that I failed. I drove home on expensive, dirty, imported gasoline, but filled up with E85 in my hometown before returning the van.

Lesson learned: the good stuff is out there, but for now, doing the right thing involves a little legwork. Next time I’ll know better. And maybe, next time those E85 pumps will be a little more visible to the unaided eye.

I think just about everyone knew that the California anti-idling law that took effect January 1st would send shock waves through the industry, even if nobody quite knew what those shock waves would be. A recent news item doesn’t seem related at first glance, but I can’t help but see a connection.

A story last week in the Knoxville, TN, News Sentinel led off with the headline: “IdleAire reports growing losses–Company’s SEC filing expresses ’substantial doubt’ about future.” You know IdleAire: they make the truck-stop electrification (TSE) units that slide in through the window of a truck cab, attached by a yellow flexible umbilical cord to an overhead HVAC unit. It’s a slick package, and I have talked to truck drivers who love this system because it meets all their needs at a moderate cost, and doesn’t require them to alter their truck at all.

But it does require that the truck be at a truck stop. And not just any truck stop: it has to be at one of the relatively few truck stops that have IdleAire installations. Now, what if your truck needs to cross into California? Even if you run your truck idle-free at IdleAire stations in during rest periods in the 47 other lower states, you might mot be able to do it in California. There might not be an installation where your truck needs to be. Even if there is, there may not be a stall available. Maybe you’ve chosen IdleAire over installing an APU or battery-powered on-board system. Then what?

I have a sneaking suspicion that as more and more fleets and owner-operators opt for on-board idle-reduction systems in order to do business in California, fewer and fewer of them are paying for IdleAire services. And I don’t see any way to reverse that trend. Do you?

You know something has changed in the trucking world when all the major truck and engine manufacturers are talking about fuel economy… at the Mid-America Truck Show.

That’s right, at THE truck show for owner-operators, the place where big bore diesels and raw horsepower trump all, everyone was talking about fuel efficiency. And they weren’t just talking about in private conversations, on the side. They were leading off with fuel economy, treating it like a selling point (which it always should be anyway).

There was Freightliner, telling us that their 2010 “SCR” diesel engines from Detroit Diesel and Mercedes-Benz would be offering up a three to five percent fuel economy improvement… There were Peterbilt and Kenworth showing off their diesel-electric and diesel-hydraulic trucks… There were vendors showing off new trailer aerodynamic packages, alternative fuels, and “green” initiatives galore (yes, many products were being sold on their environmental benefits, but they almost always offer a fuel-use benefit as part of the package).

Is this a sign of things to come? Yes, I think it is. I think the tide has turned, green is in, and fuel economy is going to overshadow every other issue in the trucking industry. And it’s about time!