Natural Gas is Cheaper and More Sustainable for Transportation….Just Ask Truckers!

Today’s story in the Wall Street Journal discusses how more operators of the largest truck fleets in the US are in the process of converting their fleets over to natural gas powered trucks. These big companies, including Procter & Gamble, United Parcel Service, FedEx, and North Carolina based Lowes are all recognizing that the cost of natural gas has dropped to record lows, and is likely to stay there for some time to come. In addition, trucking companies like Con-Way, Schneider, Swift, and Werner are also testing compressed natural gas and liquified natural gas powered engines. Even Waste Management is converting about 15% of its 22,000 garbage trucks to gas.

The explosion of fracking activity in the US combined with the plentiful supply of gas found in Western Canada, has dropped the price of gas to record lows. Although only 5% of trucks on the road today are run by gas, barriers are coming down as the cost of compressed natural gas has dropped to to about $1.50 less a gallon that diesel fuel, which hovered around $3.87 a gallon this week. Experts predict that the total fleet of trucks could increase to 30% or more in 5 years, as the cost of these trucks come down by 10 to 20%.

Converting to natural gas has some conversion costs of course, but just think of all the time that these trucks spent in traffic, idling at lights, and burning fuel in the process. One of the other major benefits of gas is that it burns much cleaner than diesel, with much lower emissions. Companies who want to make an impact on their carbon footprint need to think long and hard about this “long-term play”, as Steve Palmer, vice president of Lowes, said today.

One of the largest natural gas fuel companies, Clean Energy Fuels, is working also on improving the infrastructure and a network of companies around the country. The company (owned by none other than T. Boone Pickens, a promoter of gas as the source of reducing dependence on the Middle East) has more than 400 fueling stations across the country and is expanding. Refilling a CNG vehicle can take all night with a low pressure compressor, but as little as 15 minutes with a high pressure fast fill station. CNG trucks cost between $40K and $50K more than a diesel truck, which could add investment costs to fleets, but could provide significant long-term benefits in the form of lower operating costs.