Natural Gas Class 8 Retail Sales Start Strong in 2017

U.S. and Canadian natural gas heavy duty retail sales had a healthy start to 2017, boosted mostly from refuse fleets, transit, and school bus operators, according to ACT Research.

“The best January in the past three years set up the positive year-to-date February performance,” said Steve Tam, ACT’s Vice President. He continued, “Among truckers, it appears as though the majority of incremental volume came from those who currently have natural gas vehicles and are replacing units or increasing their number.”

However, in comparison to the total market, natural gas Class 8 truck and bus sales remain slow when calculated as a percentage of the total market. For 2016, the natural gas share was estimated at 3% due to the higher new truck sales and lower natural gas penetration. “Given relatively low diesel fuel prices and the subsequent price narrower spread between CNG and diesel, payback times remain longer than most truckers’ trade cycles,” noted Tam.

ACT has a quick reference calculator for fleets considering moving from diesel to natural gas here.

Category: General Update, Green