Switching to CNG: 8 things to know - FleetOwner

At the recent CNG Industry Leaders Forum hosted by Gain Clean Fuel in St. Louis, MO, last week, several transportation veterans shared some of the insight they&#;ve acquired during diesel to compressed natural gas (CNG) transitions for heavy trucks.

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CNG fuel quality is critical: &#;Fuel is the reason the transition [to natural gas] will or won&#;t work,&#; noted Robert &#;Bob&#; Carrick, manager of natural gas sales for Freightliner. &#;It&#;s got to be &#;clean&#; fuel, with no oil or moisture in it.&#; Ken Marko, senior national manager for sustainability for Frito-Lay, noted that the impact of natural gas contaminants goes beyond reducing potential range and damaging a truck&#;s engine and fuel system. &#;We had one case where the refueling hose literally &#;froze&#; to the truck due to contaminants,&#; he explained. &#;The driver in that case had to pour hot coffee over the connection to get the hose free.&#;

Every refueling depot is different: Billy Lawder, director of transportation engineering for Anheuser Busch, noted that the pressure, flow rates, and energy composition of natural gas sold at public refueling stations can differ widely &#; as can the taxes incorporated into the fuel price. Those factors must be accounted for as fleets build routes for their natural gas trucks &#; especially in terms of refueling time. Frito-Lay&#;s Marko uses what he calls the &#;Five Ps&#; checklist when reviewing CNG filling station capabilities: public access, proximity to the fleet&#;s home bases, pricing, performance (flow rates), and pavement space for room to maneuver tractor-trailers.

Create a &#;diesel-like&#; experience: Freightliner&#;s Carrick stressed that for fleets switching to either CNG or liquefied natural gas (LNG) for their fuel must aim to create what he called a &#;diesel-like&#; experience for their drivers, especially in terms of refueling. &#;If you are the third truck in line at a station that can only refuel at four gallons per minute, you are talking about a three to four wait time for refueling,&#; he pointed out. &#;That will sour your drivers pretty fast.&#; Thus operating, refueling, and maintaining natural gas trucks must be as similar as possible to what the fleet experiences with its diesel vehicles, Carrick noted.

Plan for the 3 a.m. maintenance call: Anheuser Busch&#;s Lawder noted that while getting shop technicians trained to take care of natural gas-powered equipment is a necessity, having a plan in place to deal with the &#;3 a.m. breakdown in the middle of nowhere&#; is just as important, if not more so. &#;You need to build that &#;on call&#; maintenance into your solution up front, not just for your shops but across the network your trucks operate within,&#; he stressed.

Be conservative when establishing vehicle range: To date Anheuser Busch has almost 200 CNG-fired tractors in service; bringing on board 66 at its Houston, TX, location last year and currently putting 97 in service at its St. Louis facility. Yet natural gas refueling locations are not nearly as widespread as diesel ones, so Lawder said the company is &#;judicious&#; in establishing range limits for its CNG tractors. &#;We estimate an 80% fill rate for the 160 DGEs [diesel gallon equivalents] on board our tractors. Combined with 5.5 mpg equivalent fuel economy, our working tractor range is 563 miles,&#; he said.

Safety and sharing must be priorities: Anheuser Busch&#;s Lawder is adamant that safety both for drivers and shop personnel must be a top focus. &#;You don&#;t cut corners when implementing a new fuel and new technology,&#; he stressed. Frito-Lay&#;s Marko noted that regularly sharing &#;best practices&#; can further enhance that safety piece. &#;I host a conference call with our top technicians every two weeks to go over problems and solutions about our natural gas trucks,&#; he said. Frito Lay current operates 463 CNG tractors served by 200 or technicians working out of 27 company-operated shops co-located at 27 of its 28 production plants in the U.S. &#;That call is important because fixes made by one set of our technicians at one of our locations might not filter out to everyone.,&#; Marko pointed out. &#;So we use a conference call format to share such information with the whole team.&#;

Build your business case without extras: Anheuser Busch&#;s Lawder said it&#;s critical that a natural gas conversion program be able to stand on its own two feet, without the help of grants or tax incentives &#; fiscal support that can disappear down the road. &#;You have to sell it on its bare bones,&#; he explained. &#;You also need to offer alternative fuel price scenarios as well. For us, we needed to show [the conversion] works when diesel is at $4.50 and at $2.25. You need to realize it&#;s a math problem and that the problem will change based on the [diesel] pricing numbers. But it&#;s still a math problem and so still solvable.&#;

At Western Global, we manufacture and supply robust, ready-to-use fuel tanks for all circumstances &#; including fuel trailers. 

We know that not every project is created equal. Each one has its own unique requirements, whether that be fuel capacity, the size of the site, hazmat needs, and the type of equipment and phase the project is in.  With that in mind, we want to provide a guide to selecting the proper fuel trailer for you.  

Choosing the right fuel tank

Before purchasing a fuel trailer, there are some key considerations for understanding your jobsite fueling needs, such as:

• • The project &#; what equipment are you refueling, and what type of fuel do you need? Do you only need temporary storage? Are you looking to directly feed fuel into equipment for extended runtimes? How much fuel are you using on a weekly basis?
  • The type of site &#; how much space do you have for your fuel storage? How long are you there for? Is the job site easily accessible? 
  • Additional needs &#; are you planning to sell fuel? Will you have close proximity to the equipment you are fueling onsite? Do you need remote power options for your pump?

We&#;ve gone into more detail on what to consider when buying a fuel tank here, which can help you decide if a fuel trailer is really what you need. If not, we have plenty of other fuel tanks available that may be better suited to your project.

What is a fuel trailer?

A fuel trailer is a towable fuel tank on wheels designed to transport fuel on the road. They have different designs but generally consist of a tank mounted onto a trailer allowing you to transport fuel safely and securely around job sites.

There are different types of fuel trailers available. Some trailers can be kept onsite and fed into equipment directly for faster, efficient refueling, whereas others are designed for wet hosing. 

Some fuel trailers require hazmat placarding while others do not, but what they all have in common is that they provide a means of fuel transportation on the jobsite and highway.

What is a multi-tank fuel trailer?

As we mentioned above, there are different types of fuel trailers to choose from &#; a multi-tank trailer being one of them. A multi-tank fuel trailer is typically made up of multiple, individually isolated tanks designed with each individual tank capacity often at less than 119 gallons for diesel fuel. This is in order to allow a driver to transport bulk diesel fuel without hazmat placarding, due to each individual tank capacity sitting below the placarding threshold.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of cng trailer. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

Which fuel trailer do I need?

When it comes to finding a flexible refueling solution, there are so many options on the market that it can be tricky to know which trailer you need.

At Western Global, we offer two tanks as part of our fuel trailer range &#; the MultiCube and the TransCube Mobile Refueler. Each tank has various benefits and accessory options to enhance your operations, designed with security and flexibility in mind. 

However, if you&#;re unsure about which fuel trailer is right for your project, we&#;ve created this visual for quick and easy tank comparison, so you can quickly see which tank does what: MultiCube vs Mobile Refueler 

We&#;ve also looked at each trailer in more detail as part of this guide:

The MultiCube

The MultiCube is our multi-tank fuel trailer, an efficient solution for fueling on the move. This rugged and reliable trailer carries 630 gallons of diesel within six independently-isolated, 105-gallon tanks, all housed within an outer tank, providing 110% containment &#; something you won&#;t find on other multi-tank trailers. 

This means that hazmat placarding, and in most cases, CDL, is not required. This makes it ideal for fuel distributors, rental companies and construction companies that experience challenges with hazmat but need diesel across projects. This trailer is ideal for wet hosing, also referred to as fleet fueling. 

It also acts as a drop-and-go product in times of disaster relief. If you need your MultiCube quickly, we offer short lead times on all Western Global tanks, ensuring that you&#;re up and running as quickly as possible. 

To make project planning even easier, we also offer a number of pre-configured, pre-installed accessory packages to accompany your multi-tank. Whether you need last-mile delivery or are selling fuel, we can offer packages to ensure your requirements are met. Not to mention, all Western Global tanks come with an 8-year warranty, we&#;ve got you covered.

Learn more about the MultiCube here.

For projects that need less diesel fuel, see our FuelCube Type-S. This compact, hybrid slip tank holds 119 gallons of diesel and sits in your truck bed, ready to be dropped onsite for refueling. 

TransCube Mobile Refueler 

The TransCube Mobile Refueler allows you to transport your fuel onsite and on the highway to refuel your equipment in no time. This trailer can be connected to three generators at once and is compatible with gasoline and fuel. 

The TransCube Mobile Refueler is often used on construction and agricultural projects, with many companies choosing to drop the trailer onsite for both mobile refueling and auxiliary applications. If you need to travel and transport fuel between projects, this fuel trailer might be the right fit for you.

Our TransCube Mobile Refueler meets global transport regulations, including US DOT, meaning you can take fuel where you need it, when you need it. However, you do need a CDL license and hazmat placarding to drive this trailer on public roads and highways.

Transporting your fuel comes with risks &#; risks that we&#;ve helped mitigate with our TransCube Mobile Refueler. It has everything you know and love about our TransCube Global, including the rugged build and double-walled design, on a trailer. Pumps and equipment are housed in a lockable cabinet, meaning that every element of your tank is safe and secure while on the move.

Fuel trailers from Western Global

When traveling between jobs, you&#;ll likely encounter some bumpy roads &#; but Western Global&#;s fuel trailers ensure a smooth journey. Our MultiCube is unlike other multi-tank trailers on the market, providing a simple refueling solution that arrives fully equipped and ready for the road. Our TransCube Mobile Refuler is the ideal solution if you&#;re looking to transport fuel on the highway, refuel onsite, and directly feed into equipment for extended runtimes &#; increasing efficiency throughout your project.

Learn more about our fuel trailers here, or speak to our team about your requirements.

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