Equipment World Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85677
trucks | by Jack Roberts Ready for NATURAL GAS? LNG and CNG look to be a medium-duty hit – but will they work in Class 8? Dumps and other vocational trucks that return to a central fueling facility each day make ideal candidates for CNG or LNG consideration. N atural gas as a fuel for internal combus- tion engines isn't a new idea. What is new is the scope of its penetration into new vehicle applications in the wake of ris- ing diesel prices – and nowhere is that trend more prominent than the fuel's current inroads into the heavy-duty truck market. Fleet interest in natural gas as a viable Class 8 fuel skyrocketed during the unprecedented 2007-08 fuel price spike, but that brief affair ended as prices returned to more manageable levels in recent years. Today, interest is returning be- cause fl eets realize that yesterday's lower fuel prices truly are a thing of the past, says Robert Carrick, vocational sales manager of natu- ral gas for Freightliner. "Every time the prices retreat, they'll stay at a higher level instead of dropping all the way back down," Carrick says. "Fleets are looking at ways to combat that." Even if the natural gas infra- structure is lagging, competition is driving the heavy-duty truck mar- ketplace, says Jonathan Burke, vice president of global market develop- ment for Westport. "The challenge for fl eets that looked to natural gas in the past was that there were very few vehicle models and engines avail- able," Burke says. "Now we're see- ing all of the major truck OEMs step up and invest signifi cant amounts of capital in making a huge range of new factory-built vehicles available today. That's the sea change." The right path Both compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefi ed natural gas (LNG) fuels behave exactly the same once introduced into an engine's com- bustion chamber, but the manner in which they are delivered, stored, packaged on a vehicle and trans- ported to the combustion chamber are radically different. "Fleets operating on longer routes should ensure they are running on a defi ned natural gas corridor," says Steve Weiner, alternative fuels marketing manager for Peterbilt. "If the routes are stable, then you can put fuel where you need it. If the routes change frequently, then it EquipmentWorld.com | May 2012 57