Nonprofit increasing its commitment to autogas

2 Peaches Group converted its first two vehicles to autogas in July 2016. Photo courtesy of 2 Peaches Group LLC

2 Peaches Group LLC, the corporate sponsor of American Kidney Services in Atlanta, plans to commit half of its 55-vehicle fleet to propane autogas over the next few years.

The company partnered with Campbell-Parnell and Georgia Gas Distributors in July 2016 to convert two of its Isuzu NPR trucks to autogas. After testing the units, the company converted four more vehicles to autogas, according to Georgia Gas Distributors.

“We had been strictly diesel before and now we’re switching to propane,” says Tom Stutzman, manager at 2 Peaches Group. “We looked at the costs of maintaining diesel versus gas versus propane. It seems like there’s less maintenance costs associated with propane.”

Stutzman adds that each truck in the company’s fleet drives about 600 miles per day around the Atlanta area to pick up goods from American Kidney Services, a nonprofit organization that raises money for the American Kidney Fund.

Georgia Gas Distributors installed a Pro-Vend 2000 dispenser by Superior Energy Systems and a 1,000-gallon tank for 2 Peaches Group. Gordon Cunningham, sales and marketing manager at Georgia Gas Distributors, estimates the nonprofit will use about 6,000 to 7,000 gallons of propane a year per truck.

Georgia Gas Distributors installed a refueling dispenser for 2 Peaches Group. Photo courtesy of 2 Peaches Group LLC

“We’ve been walking them through the conversion process,” Cunningham says. “I come out and visit with them three days out of the week to make sure everything is good. It’s been a good experience for us and them, and we’ve learned lessons through this process.”

Georgia Gas Distributors plans to add another 1,000-gallon tank at 2 Peaches Group’s site in early 2017 as the company converts more vehicles to autogas.

2 Peaches Group plans to perform its own conversions internally moving forward, Stutzman says. The company converted a fifth vehicle to autogas on its own with minimal oversight from Campbell-Parnell.

“We’re going to do our own moving forward,” he says. “It’s a nicely organized system Campbell-Parnell has that’s almost dummy-proof the way the system comes to you. It’s not that complicated. We have a good shop manager, so he’ll have no problem doing it.”