Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/131367
Industry News Louisville Trucking Firm First To Use Natural Gas M & M Cartage, a Louisville based regional truck-load carrier announced the delivery of their first dedicated CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) powered truck on Friday, March 22. It is the first CNG powered semi truck whose home base of operation is in Kentucky. Don Hayden, President of M & M Cartage noted that adding this truck to his fleet of 170 semi trucks with 450 trailers is for evaluation purposes. "We would like to operate 100 CNG trucks over the next four years, "Hayden said. "CNG is an environmental and economical option to traditional diesel," added Hayden. CHANGING LANES "Kentucky Truck Sales is very excited for Don Hayden and M&M Cartage as being the first to venture into the CNG class 8 - tractor market in Kentucky" said David Meiners, KTS Freightliner dealer. "Don realizes the benefits and so do we. Natural gas vehicles are going to be great for the State of Kentucky's environment and economy," added Meiners. The 2013 Freightliner is powered by a Cummins ISL GM2 9L engine. "M&M Cartage has been a long-standing partner with Cummins Crosspoint LLC and Cummins products. We are very excited to expand that partnership with new technologies that not only help to protect the environment, but also help to make M&M more productive 14 industry news 0613 cl.indd 1 and able to positively affect their bottom line," according to Brian Bane, Cummins. Agility Fuel Systems provided the 100 - gallon behind the cab fuel system for the unit. "We congratulate Don and his forward thinking leadership in deploying the first dedicated natural gas tractor in the area", said Company President Ron Eickelman. During the evaluation period, the truck will run various routes in Metro Louisville and across Kentucky. M&M Cartage trucks travel over 12 million miles annually, employing 265 people in Louisville. "Natural gas is a clean, low cost transportation fuel for Kentucky. M & M Cartage is showing great leadership in the trucking industry", said Melissa Howell, Executive Director, Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition. U.S. Crude Oil Production On Track To Surpass Imports For First Time Since 1995 Monthly crude oil production in the United States is expected to exceed the amount of U.S. crude oil imports later this year for the first time since February 1995. The gap between monthly U.S. crude oil production and imports is projected to be almost 2 million barrels per day (bbl/d) by the end of next year—according to EIA's March 2013 Short-Term Energy Outlook. According to EIA's projections: June 2013 // WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM 5/7/13 10:40 AM