Editor’s note: This is the second part of the two-part “Natural gas reality check” series. Click here to see Part 1.
Dillon Transport, a 400-truck tank carrier based in Burr Ridge, Ill., was one of the first to jump headfirst into the natural gas market. The tank carrier experimented with both LNG and CNG before ultimately migrating to CNG for its daycab operations.
The key to success in a low-cost diesel environment is to keep the trucks on the road, says Phil Crofts, marketing manager.
“You always strive to get the highest-mileage lanes to get the quickest payback,” says Crofts. “We want to run those trucks 1,000 miles per day if we can.”
Crofts explains how the math works. “Let’s say you can save $1.50 gallon in CNG vs. diesel and you run 300,000 miles per year and get 6 miles per gallon – that’s 50,000 gallons,” he says. “At $1.50 per gallon in savings, the payback is pretty significant. If the gap between diesel and CNG lessens to $1.20, then the payback obviously gets extended.”
Curt Reitz, president of Contract Transport Services, a dedicated and regional carrier based in Green Bay, Wis., calculates his company’s return on investment for its natural gas trucks based on the tank package.
