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The “Truck in the Park” project was a jointly funded research project which demonstrated the benefits of the use of biodiesel in a tourism related industry. The National Park Service (NPS) operated a truck in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) for 149,408 km (92,838 miles) on 100% biodiesel fuel produced by the University of Idaho. Participants in this project included Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Wyoming Department of Commerce, NPS, Department of Energy's Regional Biomass Energy Program, Koch Agri-Services, Dodge Truck, Cummins Engine Company, J.R. Simplot, Western States Caterpillar, University of California at Davis, and the University of Idaho. This summary report details the fuel production, engine performance, durability, and engine emissions tests performed on the test vehicle. The test vehicle was a 1995 Dodge 2500 four-wheel-drive pickup with a Cummins B 5.9 liter turbocharged, direct injected, diesel engine.

This study involved refining a vehicle for computer guidance and GPS position control. The vehicle was powered by a small diesel engine coupled to a hydrostatic drive transmission adaptable to computer control. By interfacing GPS and a computer with the control portions of the vehicle, it was controlled automatically with no driver interference. The computer interface for the vehicle was built to use TTL level inputs and outputs on a standard parallel port configuration. All control aspects of the vehicle were dictated by two parallel ports with vehicle position and heading read simultaneously through two nine pin-serial connectors. This interface configuration was flexible so the vehicle’s software control could be executed by a variety of computers, not just one built specifically for the application. A hydraulic power steering valve driven by a single bidirectional DC motor controlled the electro-hydrostatic steering system.