Page 19 - ATR 4 2013

because a public station was readily
available. So far, the company has had
good experiences. The company does
much of its line hauls at night, so its
drivers haven’t had to spend too much “it’s the New traNsportatioN fuel. i belieVe
time waiting to fill up. it’s goiNg to briNg opeC to its kNees iN the
Join your colleagues at Frank Thompson Transport con- Next fiVe to 10 years beCause there’s suCh aN
the premier conference verted four tanker trucks in April so abuNdaNCe of it.” Jared tomliNsoN, operatiNg
for trucking industry that they now burn a mixture of CNG partNer of arkaNsas CNg CoNVersioN
and diesel. According to the company’s
executives! Special vice president, Tommy Choate, the car-
discounts are available rier’s four dual-fuel engines ignite using
for first-time attendees. diesel but travel down the road using
the mixture. The split is about 50-50 drivers cover fewer miles than their both types of fuels. For example, it’s
on the highway, but in a given month diesel-driving counterparts, Choate working with California-based Dylan
STRATEGIC. SMART. SAVVY. no more than 30 percent of the trucks’ feels obliged to pay them a higher rate. Transportation to build a public LCNG

Five dynamic general sessions, plus usage will be CNG. Moreover, many of the stations were station for the company’s yard west of
While oil and water don’t mix, designed for passenger cars and trucks, Dallas. “Those types of stations will
Twelve stellar educational sessions, plus diesel and natural gas do, but not per- not the motor carrier industry. The probably be where our focus is now that
fectly. The engine runs well, but a mix- exception is a station in Bossier City, we’ve got a skeletal infrastructure in
200+ exhibitors on one world-class ture with too much natural gas tends La., which is used by the city’s natural place on the major highway corridors,”
exhibition floor, plus to confuse the truck’s computers and gas-powered garbage trucks. The solu- he said.
emissions systems. “I could go all the tion? More stations built for heavy-duty Other Arkansas stations are
Four jam-packed days of networking way up to about 75 percent CNG and trucks. “That way your driver doesn’t being developed in Conway and Little
25 percent diesel if I could trick the have to get off and go around behind a Rock, and more could be on the way.
opportunities and entertainment equal emissions computers on the truck into car wash to a little makeshift deal and Earlier this year, the state Legislature
not shutting the truck down or giving squeeze in and squeeze out of traffic,” passed the Clean Burning Motor Fuel
One incredible conference you me false readings or codes on my truck he said. Development Act and then appropriated
now,” he said.
When it comes to public fueling
$3 million to provide incentives for the
must attend! Choate said he didn’t have to make stations, Arkansas has a lot of catching development and construction of CNG
any modifications to his engines in up to do. Oklahoma, which has been fueling stations. Steve Patterson, execu-
order to use this mixture, but running drilling for natural gas a lot longer than tive director of the Arkansas Advanced
The exhibit floor is 90% sold straight CNG would require significant Arkansas, has 73 public natural gas Energy Association, said that amount
and space is going fast! changes. He won’t do that because he stations listed on the Department of would be enough to finance two or

Reserve your booth today! can’t be guaranteed he’ll have CNG Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center. three stations during the next two or
available on the road. Arkansas has only three – one in Fort three years, one of which must be in
Call 703.838.1710 or Indeed, fueling access has been the Smith, one in North Little Rock, and Northwest Arkansas under the law. The
email mce@trucking.org! biggest challenge. Choate considered one in Damascus. Unlike Oklahoma’s law also can be used to provide rebates
natural gas fueling stations, many of
installing his own CNG station in El
to individual vehicle owners to convert
Dorado, but building the facility itself which are located along the interstates, to natural gas.
would have cost $750,000, not count- none of those based in Arkansas cater According to Patterson, support
ing the $25,000 per truck expense of to truckers. in the Legislature was overwhelming.
converting 25 more trucks. That means Others, however, are on the way. “People understand that we’ve got a
he must use public fueling stations. Clean Energy Fuels has completed one natural resource here. We’re exporting
Because his setup requires two fuels, his station in West Memphis that is ready most of it,” he said. “We need to invest
drivers have to fill at two different loca- to open and is developing another in in developing more of a market for it
tions. Fueling can be particularly trou- Fort Smith. Nationwide, it has built right here.”
blesome when one of the few available 76 stations, most as part of a partner- For natural gas to become a more
sites has a mechanical problem at the ship with Pilot Flying J. According to viable fuel, companies like Arkansas
pump or when a previous group of cus- Feighner, about 15 of those were open CNG Conversion will need to be a suc-
tomers has purchased the available gas. as of early August, with more than a cess. The company, which has been in
Between driving off route and waiting dozen ready to open during the next few business for a year and a half, is work-
Registration is Open Online! http://mce.trucking.org for the tank to fill, a simple refueling months. Most are LNG stations, but ing on both the fueling infrastructure

often takes an hour, and because those
the company will build them to supply
For more information, call 703.838.1755. arkansas Trucking reporT | issue 4 2013 19