Industry group touts natural gas trucks for port freight operations

The Trucker News Services

2/28/2008

WASHINGTON — On February 19, the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners voted to replace and modernize the entire port trucking fleet of 16,800 vehicles with “no less than 50 percent run on alternative fuels proven to be cleaner than diesel, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG).” The port’s goal is to reduce port-related air pollution from diesel exhaust by 80 percent.

Not surprisingly, some in the diesel industry have questioned the value of replacing diesel trucks with LNG trucks, and have attempted to say that it makes no economic or environmental difference. They are wrong, a natural gas association says.

“The facts are clear,” said Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica. “Natural gas trucks offer major economic and environmental advantages over even the cleanest diesel trucks. Diesel trucks also worsen our dependence on foreign oil, while the natural gas we use is primarily produced in America.

“With respect to economics, once in volume production manufacturers have estimated the costs of LNG trucks to be from $106,000 to $150,000 including all taxes and tax credits. The federal government provides a tax credit for the natural gas trucks because it recognizes LNG trucks are cleaner and use a domestic fuel. This compares to the $110,000 estimated cost for petroleum diesel trucks, which cost is expected to jump substantially in less than two years as manufacturers seek to meet much more stringent 2010 emissions standards.”

The cost of fuel for LNG trucks is far less than for petroleum diesel trucks, Kolodziej.noted, adding that, environmentally, new LNG trucks also are much less polluting than new diesel trucks.

NGVAmerica is a national organization dedicated to the development of a growing, sustainable and profitable market for vehicles powered by natural gas or hydrogen.