Clean Energy Fuels Corp. announced that five additional trucking fleets have started using natural gas vehicles through its infrastructure. The five firms, Saddle Creek Logistics Services, Lakeland, FL; Premier Transportation, Atlanta, GA; Hoopes Turf Farm, Transport Division, Ulysses, PA; Lily Transportation Corp., Needham, MA; and Lancaster Foods, Jessup, MD, will use compressed natural gas (CNG) at existing Clean Energy public access stations, new stations built for the companies, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Clean Energy stations along “America’s Natural Gas Highway.”
“These companies are geographically diverse, but the common theme we hear from all of them is a desire to reduce their fuel costs and to deploy cleaner operating fleets,” said James Harger, Clean Energy’s chief marketing officer. “With the availability of a new class of heavy-duty natural gas trucks as well as more fueling stations, regional and national trucking operators are seeing the enormous benefits of converting to natural gas as their transportation fuel.”
Saddle Creek, a nationwide third-party logistics company, has expanded its contract with Clean Energy to build additional private natural gas fueling stations to support Saddle Creek’s expanding fleet of for-hire CNG trucks. Fueling at its new CNG station at the company’s Lakeland headquarters, a fleet of 40 Freightliner natural gas trucks is now serving Saddle Creek’s Florida customers. With its CNG fleet size projected to grow to 120 trucks, this will be the largest over-the-road CNG truck fleet in the state.
“Sustainability is a core strategy at Saddle Creek. We have opted to transition our truck fleets to natural gas power to help our customers secure the benefits of this clean, cost-efficient, abundant domestic fuel,” said Mike DelBovo, Saddle Creek’s president.
Premier Transportation has deployed a new fleet of CNG-powered heavy-duty Freightliner trucks to serve its customers in the Greater Atlanta area.
“Our transition to natural gas fuel for our truck fleets gives us a hedge against rising fuel costs, and the chance to offer a clean, domestic, abundant fuel source to support the sustainability objectives of our retail industry customers,” said Mike Medici, chairman & CEO.
Hoopes Turf Farm is a family-owned sod production and contract truck transportation company that offers solutions for construction and energy development sites, industrial hauling, materials delivery, commercial transportation needs, large equipment pick-up and delivery, and private residential requirements. With 10 LNG trucks in service now, the company plans to transition its entire fleet of 50 trucks to LNG power.
As a dedicated contract carrier, Lily Transportation provides transportation to the grocery, retail and industrial sectors. Lily has recently deployed a new fleet of CNG-powered trucks to serve one of its supply chain customers in the Los Angeles area. The fleet will fuel at Clean Energy’s extensive local network of public access CNG stations.
A subsidiary of Guest Services, Inc., Lancaster Foods is the largest wholesale produce company in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region. The company has begun its transition to natural gas power with a new fleet of CNG temperature-sensitive refrigerated trucks. The Clean Energy CNG public access station at Baltimore/Washington, DC International Airport will provide fueling service to the Lancaster trucks.
