Trucking still runs on diesel, but every day seems to bring another sign that natural gas is trickling in.
Most recently, Love's Travel Stops announced that their new station in Amarillo, TX will have fast-fill CNG fueling capability for trucks. It's expected to open on Interstate 40 by the second quarter of 2014.
"Professional drivers filling up with CNG see a two-dollar savings per gallon-equivalent over diesel. That economic edge creates an incentive for fleets to look into the viability of fast-fill CNG," said Jon Archard, director of fleet sales at Love's.
"Our expansion signifies the natural progression of working with fleets interested in the fuel cost savings offered by Love's Fast-Fill CNG," Archard said.
Unlike gasoline or diesel stations, CNG stations can be either fast-fill or time-fill, depending on the need of the vehicle.
Time-fill stations take longer but one advantage is that drivers usually get a fuller fill than with fast-fill. But depending on factors such as number of vehicles, compressor size, and the amount of buffer storage, time-filling may take hours.
On the other hand, fast-fill CNG gives drivers a similar experience to filling up with diesel.
Love's CNG stations are designed to deliver a fill rate of at least 10 gallons per minute in all lanes, meaning a driver can fill a 100-gallon-equivalent tank in 10 minutes or less. These in-lane, fast-fill CNG dispensers have gained more interest from trucking fleets.
Love's announced that Dillon Transport's fleet, with more than 400 trucks in operation, plans to fuel their CNG trucks at the Amarillo location.
"Our fleet will operate 10 CNG trucks with the new Cummins ISX G engine to support multiple customers in the Amarillo area," said Charles Musgrove, vice president of Dillon Transport. "We are planning for these trucks to fuel at the Amarillo Love's location. We are committed to natural gas as a transport fuel and look forward to fielding more CNG units over the next two quarters in Texas."
Love's fast-fill CNG expansion in Texas began with eight locations, spanning highways between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio and will now include this addition to the I-40 corridor.
With Amarillo, Love's will offer fast-fill CNG at 11 of its travel stops across Texas and Oklahoma.
As part of its expansion, Love's has purchased 55 CNG-powered trucks for its own fuel-hauling fleet, including five for its Amarillo location.
"By introducing CNG into our private truck fleet, Gemini Motor Transport, Love's is better able to anticipate our customer's fueling needs," Archard said. "We know solutions that work for our fleet can work for our customer as well."
