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Love’s Travel Stops has installed a rapid-fueling facility at one of its Oklahoma City truck stops for heavy-duty trucks that run on compressed natural gas.
Love’s Travel Stops is getting into the compressed natural gas business.
The Oklahoma City-based company has opened a rapid-fueling facility at Interstate 40 and Morgan Road for heavy-duty CNG trucks. It is thought to be the first such public facility in the country that is located alongside diesel pumps.
Love’s also is testing a CNG-fueled truck in its 300-vehicle fuel delivery fleet.
“It’s a thing of beauty,” CEO Tom Love said Monday, as the company celebrated the opening of its new fueling facility.
Gov. Mary Fallin praised Love’s for its “huge” investment in CNG infrastructure.
“This is really a great day for Oklahoma to once again be a trendsetter,” she said.
Fallin said natural gas is a clean, abundant form of energy that is produced in Oklahoma.
Fallin said Love’s willingness to build CNG infrastructure will increase the demand for natural gas vehicles. She and her Colorado counterpart, Gov. John Hickenlooper, are doing their part, enlisting 13 other governors so far to commit to buying natural gas vehicles for their state fleets. More than 100 car dealers submitted bids last week for CNG cars, light-duty trucks and vans.
Love said natural gas is developing into a viable alternative to traditional vehicle fuels.
“It seems like a no-brainer because natural gas is so much less expensive than diesel or gasoline,” he said.
Love’s has put CNG fueling stations in about a dozen of its Oklahoma locations, but this is its first foray into fueling trucks. Trucks require rapid-fueling technology to keep drivers on schedule.
GE and Chesapeake Energy Corp. subsidiary Peake Fuel Solutions unveiled their new CNG in A Box system Monday in Las Vegas at the National Association of Convenience Stores 2012 Annual Show. The system was designed to make it easier for fuel retailers to offer compressed natural gas refueling. It includes everything retailers need to add natural gas fuel to their operations. More than 250 units will be available this fall. “In collaboration with Peake Fuel Solutions, GE is developing infrastructure solutions to accelerate the adoption of natural gas as a transportation fuel,” said Mike Hosford, general manager of unconventional resources for GE Oil & Gas. “The CNG In A Box system is a unique fueling solution that brings together some of the best innovation from across GE to help fleet owners and everyday drivers realize the benefits of cleaner burning, abundant, more affordable natural gas.”
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