McAbee Trucking recently purchased eight emission-reducing Ford F-750s with 26-foot Mickey van bodies that will be the first propane autogas trucks used for contracted parcel delivery between USPS locations in North and South Carolina.
The trucks, first revealed at The Work Truck Show, are upfitted with the ROUSH CleanTech propane fuel system, which is 90% cleaner than the Environmental Protection Agency’s most stringent heavy-duty emission standard.
“We had great traffic at the NTEA booth,” said Dylan Kyle, ROUSH CleanTech’s commercial sales manager. “Being involved with a family name like McAbee, which has been a decades long contractor of the mission-critical USPS application, showed very well.”
McAbee, a freight shipping and trucking company, in located in Blacksburg SC.
“As a business owner, I continually look for ways to add safety, improve day-to-day operations, advocate for environmental preservation and save money,” said Lisa McAbee, owner of McAbee Trucking. “Our new propane fleet vehicles accomplish all these goals.”
With help from Mickey Truck Bodies and ROUSH, McAbee’s innovative new mail delivery truck was constructed and prepared for display at The Work Truck Show much faster than expected, McAbee said.
“ROUSH had the chassis, (and) now Mickey had to build the body from scratch,” McAbee said. “We all spent three weeks going over the specs for a mail delivery truck, something Mickey had never made before, and we made several changes along the way. I inspected that body from top to bottom and was so proud of it. We got it perfect.
“I want a Mickey body on every truck I own from now on. I’m sincere when I say that. It’s a great truck, rides great, and is cleaner than diesels. It’s a winner.”
The key to the success, McAbee said, was the “tenacity, determination and cooperation” of the three companies. “We came together to make something that seemed impossible only three months earlier,” she said. “Mickey and ROUSH had to pull off a lot to get that truck done in time to make it to Indianapolis. Not many companies can build a truck in three weeks. Mickey Truck Bodies and ROUSH CleanTech surpassed my expectations for both the process and product.”
Tom Arland, president of Mickey said it was “especially satisfying to deliver quality equipment to forward-thinking companies that are taking a green approach toward the environment.”
“McAbee Trucking is one of those companies,” Arland said. “ROUSH CleanTech is also a forward-thinking company, and we’re proud to be partnered with Joe Rudolph (vice president of commercial truck sales) and his team.
“Rush Truck Center was also a great partner on this project.”
Bobby Stanley, national account manager at Rush Enterprises, led the team that supplied the Ford F-750s for the builds.
Propane autogas costs about 40% less than gasoline, and 50% less than diesel. Propane fleets report savings of 30% to 50% on filters and fluids due to the clean operation of the fuel. To fuel its new fleet, McAbee will install a propane station onsite. Until then, the company has onsite “mobile fueling,” where its local propane supplier fuels the vehicles from a propane delivery truck.
“Propane is really a great fit for the size and duty cycle of the trucks we use in our business,” McAbee said.