PSI’s 8.8-liter CNG engine powers TICO’s new terminal tractor prototype.

PSI’s 8.8-liter CNG engine will power a new terminal tractor prototype being tested by TICO Manufacturing. TICO displayed the CNG prototype, which is already in service with plans for additional pilot testing, during the 2017 TMC Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition in Nashville, Feb. 27 to March 2.

TICO terminal tractors are widely used at distribution centers, rail terminals and ports. According to TICO’s General Manager, Frank Tubbert, the new CNG prototype tractor features design enhancements that improve both value and reliability over conventional models, with the benefit of improving emissions to meet environmental aims.

The prototype fits within TICO’s larger program to develop and expand an industry-leading portfolio of alternative-fuel terminal tractors. As part of that effort, TICO has worked closely with its customer UPS to develop competitively priced alternative-fuel vehicles in order to expand future fleet options to achieve the package delivery leader’s sustainability goals. The CNG prototype, currently in pilot testing, is a product of this collaboration.

“The increasing cost and complexity associated with meeting diesel emissions is helping the shift to offer gasoline and alternative fuel engines,” Tubbert added.  “This collaboration reflects that shift. We also wanted, in large part, to offer the customer more choices and to focus on clean air as a major policy objective.”

The CNG-fueled terminal tractor is the latest product of the partnership between TICO and PSI, which began in 2016 when the two companies joined forces on designs to integrate customized gasoline and alternative-fuel engines into TICO’s Pro-Spotter terminal tractors. Their first collaboration was a new propane-fueled terminal tractor, launched at the 2016 Alternative Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo.