Page 38 - ATR 2 2012 web 2

CALENDAR OF EVENTS compromise,” said Jim Hebe, Navistar
vice president of North America sales
operations.
Daniel Ustian, president and CEO
APRIL JUNE of Navistar, said customers would want
APRIL 25-27 JUNE 7-9 natural-gas-powered vehicles even with-
CAll oN WAshINgToN ARkANsAs TRuCkINg out government subsidies because the
Washington, d.C. ChAMpIoNshIp return on investment with fuel-cost
John Q. hammons Convention Center
MAY Rogers, Arkansas savings offsetting higher vehicle costs
will let the transition stand on its own.
mAY 16-18 JUNE 11-13 Pickens says the deal with Navistar
ARkANsAs TRuCkINg INfoRMATIoN TeChNology
AssoCIATIoN ANNuAl BusINess logIsTICs CouNCIl ANd was natural. “I went to Navistar a
CoNfeReNCe & VeNdoR NATIoNAl ACCouNTINg & few weeks ago and had breakfast
shoWCAse fINANCe CouNCIl ANNuAl with Daniel Ustian in Chicago,” he
hot Springs Convention Center MeeTINg
hot Springs, Arkansas hyatt Regency Tampa explained, “and Jim Hebe was there and
Tampa, Florida
mAY 20-23 he is a big advocate for natural gas.
AMeRICAN TRuCkINg JULY “After we got through talking about
AssoCIATIoNs leAdeRshIp it they said they were very interested.
MeeTINg JULY 12 Then, a week later, they formed a strategic
Renaissance Vinoy St. Petersburg Resort & sAfeTy MANAgeMeNT CouNCIl
Golf Club MeeTINg partnership with Clean Energy Fuels and
St. Petersburg, Florida Little Rock, Arkansas they were on their way,” says Pickens.
In fact, Navistar is building a broad
JULY 21-25
TRuCkINg AssoCIATIoNs range of Class 6 through Class 8 CNG-
exeCuTIVe CouNCIl ANNuAl and LNG-powered trucks. In turn,
MeeTINg Clean Energy will work with Navistar
Park City, Utah
and its customers to provide truck les-
sees with fueling contracts whose fuel
cost savings help to lower overall costs.
“Jerry Moyes [chairman of Swift
Transportation] was in Chicago at the
same time and he is going to buy 400
natural gas trucks,” he adds, “and I
know that Peterbilt is big into natural
gas engines already.”

baTTlE lINES
“I made a deal with the guys in
Washington that I would get out of
politics,” he says, smiling, “that is if we
keep this natural gas initiative moving
forward on a non-partisan basis so I
really don’t know who I’ll support (for
president).”
If he and Obama have reached a
political truce, even a working partner-
ship, Pickens is coy to say. But only
a naïve political observer would say
it’s only a coincidence that Obama
proposed a new federal tax credit last
month to encourage truck fleets to pur-
chase vehicles powered by natural gas
or electricity. The credit remains a high
priority for the administration, despite
a failed attempt to add it to the Senate

38 ArkAnSAS trucking report | issue 2 2012