Why Some Fleets Still Like Natural Gas
Ryder’s Scott Perry sees an 800-pound gorilla named California at the fuel pump, which could eventually help drive up sales of natural-gas vehicles. Photo: Ryder
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Ryder’s Scott Perry sees an 800-pound gorilla named California at the fuel pump, which could eventually help drive up sales of natural-gas vehicles. Photo: Ryder
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Not so long ago, the enthusiasm in trucking circles for using natural gas as a vehicle fuel was so hopped up it could have sparked a fire in a capped wellhead. But now that the price of diesel has plummeted back to earth, you’d be forgiven if you thought interest in natural gas would have pretty much flamed out.
But it hasn’t. And that makes sense when you consider that all along, there essentially have been three types of buyers (with a lot of overlap) for natural gas trucks: Those that are required to do so by clean-air rules, those that need or desire to be perceived as environmentally friendly, and those that are looking to save money over diesel.
When diesel prices were rising rapidly, many fleets that were not required by clean-air rules or by the desire or need to be perceived as “running green” were converting to natural gas or other alternatives simply to save on fuel costs.
In many cases, those fleets — as well as those motivated by other goals — made wholesale switches to compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG), placing hefty truck orders and making large commitments to purchase fuel or invest in fueling infrastructure to leverage the fuel savings as much as possible.
Today, however, it appears the outlook for relatively cheap diesel extends out at least into 2019, meaning that the reason for running natural gas fuel is no longer so compelling.
“The profile of the user of natural gas technology has changed drastically from five years ago,” says Scott Perry, Ryder System’s chief technology and procurement officer – Global Fleet Management Systems. “Back then, the financial decision was …Read the rest of this story
