Truck Stops on Interstate 5 'STEP' Up Anti-Idling Technology

NATIONAL REPORT -- U.S. Interstate 5 is becoming a leader when it comes to advancing fuel technology and gasoline alternative initiatives.

Last month, CSNews Online reported that the highway, stretching from Washington State's border with Canada to the California-Mexico border, would become home to electric vehicle charging stations every 40 to 60 miles.

Now, the interstate running through California and Oregon has been tapped to be the first interstate corridor with increased availability of anti-idling technology, according to a report by Successful Dealer.

Power pedestals will be added to six truck stops and travel centers (five in California and one in Oregon) along the I-5 corridor by the end of this year, the news outlet reported. These locations will join four existing I-5 truck-stop electrification sites that offer parking spaces with electrical connections, allowing drivers to shut off their engines but still enjoy communications and entertainment systems.

The federally funded plan, called the Shorepower Truck Electrification Project (STEP), is being administered by Shorepower Technologies and Cascade Sierra Solutions.

The new locations to be added under the STEP program are: Flying J Travel Plaza in Bakersfield; Pilot Travel Center in Dunnigan; Flying J Travel Plaza in Lebec; Flying J Travel Plaza in Lodi; Pilot Travel Center in Weed; and 7 Feathers Truck and Travel Center in Canyonville, Ore.

Shorepower Technologies already has sites operating at two locations along I-5 in Oregon: Jubitz Travel Center in Portland and Truck 'N Travel in Coburg, and at one in Washington, Suty's Fuel & General Store in Toledo. AC-power connections for trucks are also available at Pilot Flying J's Sacramento 49er Travel Plaza, through a project of Cascade Sierra Solutions and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, according to the report.

The new STEP sites will have between 24 and 48 parking spaces with electric power availability.

"When this phase is complete in 2012, we'll have power pedestals located between 40 and 200 miles from each other," said Jeff Kim, president and CEO of Shorepower Technologies. "This will allow the majority of truckers to have assurance that power is available along their route."

Kim added that Shorepower's long-term goal is make anti-idling technology a staple at most every place a trucker stops at night.

 

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