Page 36 - ATR 2 2012 web 2

ously and kind of leaned forward. It’s TrUCkINg’S pIvoTal rolE Association where Robert Lowe, chair-
when you say you are going to have “I can’t wait for the trucking man of Prime, Inc., interviewed him
one million plug-in hybrids in 10 years. industry’s trailers to say ‘I’m running before several hundred executives on
Obama said, ‘let me tell you something on domestic fuel—not foreign oil,” the merits and benefits of running
Mr. Pickens, I’m going to do that’ and I smiles Pickens when asked what role the trucks on natural gas.
said well, walk over there and look out U.S. trucking industry will have in this “Now I’ve had some hard-nosed
that window on the parking lot. Now plan. He said that trucking is the key truckers in here and they’ll say ‘hell,
imagine one million cars out there. It to the whole thing and he is working a Boone, natural gas trucks won’t blow
would look like one hell of a lot of cars. plan to make it virtually seamless for your hat off much less give me the
companies to convert. torque I need’ but when you start say-
Foremost, he believes the time is ing this is about America, and being
right—that there is a distinct parallel patriotic and you go down the list, that
“I mean we have so between today’s situation and the one this is something that you can do for
that trucking companies faced in the America and to a man, they are on
much natural gas 1970s. “You know when the trucking board,” he said.
“I cannot get anybody in truck-
industry began to phase out from gaso-
and we are going line to diesel?” asks Pickens, pausing ing to sit down with me who will say,
‘Boone, this is a bad idea, pal, and let
before answering his own question. “It
to see five dollar was 1972. Gasoline prices were through me explain to you why’ because if some-
the roof and by 1977 the trucking
body did, and it was better for America
diesel before we’ll industry had simply cycled out of gaso- than this one, well, I would throw in
line trucks to diesel trucks.
with them,” he said.
“There was only one reason why
see three dollar trucking execs did that—diesel was NavISTar aNd pIloT
Two immediate barriers to Pickens’s
natural gas.” cheaper than gas. They didn’t sell their plan are not having enough fueling
trucks. They simply cycled out of them
and I believe that is exactly what we will stations or enough Class 8 natural gas
see in trucking—companies cycling out trucks for the industry to purchase.
“The president said ‘it would be of diesel to natural gas. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. of which
a lot of cars yes’ and I said well, we Pickens observes that fuel prices Pickens is chairman, and Pilot-Flying
have 250 million vehicles in the U.S. are taking all the trucking industry’s J Travel Centers, incidentally also both
and that million isn’t very many. The profits away. “And if you’re not mak- corporate members of the Arkansas
president smiled and relaxed and kind ing much money in business, nothing Trucking Association, announced earlier
of laughed and said ‘no, that isn’t very else matters,” he observes. “It’s kind of this year a plan to install 70 refueling
many.’ like my dad used to say when I would stations in 33 states by the end of 2012.
“We laughed together and I said ask him if we could do something or go All of the natural gas stations will be
well that’s why I laugh when you say somewhere and he would answer ‘no’ located along major freight corridors.
that, because one million plug-in and I’d ask why and he’d say ‘there are Coupled with the availability of
hybrids won’t mean anything. I told three reasons why we can’t do it and the natural gas are the engine manufac-
him not many people in Washington first is we don’t have the money, so it turers and original equipment truck
understand energy. You can’t have a five doesn’t matter about the other two.’ So manufacturers such as Cummins-
minute conversation there with anyone I stopped asking. Westport, Kenworth, Peterbilt, Navistar,
because they run out of what they know “With natural gas it’s cleaner,” he Freightliner and Caterpillar all
before the five minutes is up.” begins. “It’s domestic. But more than announcing plans for the production of
That meeting in Reno apparently anything, it’s cheap. For that reason and Class-8 trucks and natural gas engines.
led to an alliance of sorts between that reason alone, it’s going to happen. Navistar recently announced it
Pickens and Obama, at least on energy. I mean we have so much natural gas will build a full line of Class-8 tractors
The administration has embraced much and we are going to see five dollar die- powered by natural gas. “One of the
of Pickens’s plan to provide tax incen- sel before we’ll see three dollar natural major obstacles in the customer transi-
tives, largely to the trucking industry, to gas.” tion to natural gas has been the lack
help companies transition from diesel Pickens has met with several truck- of a gas-powered range of engines to
powered trucks to trucks powered by ing company executives to sell his meet the multiple requirements without
natural gas. plan. He recently attended the national
meeting of the Truckload Carriers 

36 ArkAnSAS trucking report | issue 2 2012