We’ve written a lot here at Fuel Advantage about the rapid advance of hybrid diesel-electric drivetrains in medium-duty work trucks, and how major manufacturers are starting to produce these trucks in larger and larger volumes. Hardly a week goes by that I don’t receive a press release announcing that one fleet or another has just added medium-duty hybrid trucks to their fleet–most recently I’ve gotten news that Red Bull Energy Drink has added a fleet of hybrid delivery trucks to their fleet, and a high-profile wine distrubutor in Napa, California, has taken delivery of two new hybrid delivery trucks. The surge is quickly becoming a tidal wave.

With all this activity in the market, it was inevitable that major OEMs would start to advertise their hybrid products, but I was nonetheless surprised to see an ad in this week’s issue of “Transport Topics” for Peterbilt’s new Class-6 Model 330 and Class-7 Model 335 Hybrids! There it is: a glued-in, full-color advertisement from a major American truck OEM for a diesel-electric hybrid that is in full production. When a company commits major marketing dollars to a new product, you know it has arrived. The trucking industry will never be the same.

That didn’t take long… No sooner did we find out that $4 a gallon gasoline and diesel fuel was THE tipping point at which Americans would change their transportation habits than gasoline and fuel prices started to drop. Of course, they’re not dropping back to the $1.50 a gallon range that we enjoyed back in the day (before Bush was president), and they never will, but they have dropped down below $4 a gallon.

Is anyone surprised by this? It was inevitable that, as soon as Americans started driving slower, buying smaller, more fuel-effeicient vehicles and driving billions fewer miles, the oil companies would bait the hook with lower prices in an attempt to tempt us back to our old habits. The question is: Will we fall for it? We have in the past, over and over again.

I for one think that we’re not going to backslide. I think Americans are finally getting that our oil resources are finite and we have to change our ways. This time, I don’t think that the oil companies’ bait-and-switch tricks are going to work. What do you think?

The next issue of Fuel Advantage Magazine will feature a story on Odyssey Day, a national event put on by the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) to teach fleets and consumers alike about alternatives to gasoline and diesel fuel, but I can’t wait til the Fall issue comes out to talk about this. The event takes place on October 3rd this year, and it’s going to be huge! If you’re a fleet manager who needs to start reducing fuel costs but you don’t know where to start, Odyssey Day is here to help.

Odyssey Day isn’t any one event; it’s a whole network of alternative fuel training events held at colleges, city garages and NAFTC training sites all over the country. If you live near a major metropolital city, chances are you can reach one of this year’s Odyssey Day events.

What will you find there? At a typical event, you’ll meet a whole lot of people who can answer questions about biofuels, hybrids, natural gas, fuel cells, infratsructure & supply issues–in short, everything you need to know to start your own green revolution (And if you’re already heading down that road, the Odyssey Day folks might want you to come and share your story at one of their events!). And this year, Odyssey Day is partnering with the National Clean Cities Program to celebrate Clean Cities’ 15th anniversary, so it’s going to be the biggest Odyssey Day yet!

To find out more about this event, go online here, or call Amy Gandy, Odyssey Day Event Manager, at (304) 293-7882.