Arkansas CNG Fleet Taps Natural Gas

Krug Energy, based in Arkansa, has turned to compressed natural gas to serve a fleet of 20 new Kenworth CNG-powered tractors.

The fueling station, located in Searcy, Arkansas, was engineered by TruStar Energy, one of the nation’s largest designers and builders of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). It serves trucks from several other local fleets as well.

According to TruStar Energy President and CEO Adam Comora, “Krug Energy has aggressively migrated away from diesel because they see the opportunity presented by a stable, domestic fuel source.”

The desire to move from diesel to CNG was something that Krug Energy Owner and President Rush Krug saw as a way to minimize fuel supply issues – as well as save money. “My trucks are burning 2,000 gallons of CNG daily – and even with lower diesel fuel prices at present, we’re saving money,” Krug said, adding that diesel fuel prices would not stay this low for long. “We haul water for the oil fields, so we’re talking to producers all the time. Everyone knows that there’s no way diesel fuel isn’t going back up. All you have to do is look at the prices of diesel over time.”

In addition to the obvious cost differential between CNG and diesel, vehicle simplicity – especially engine simplicity – is something that Krug sees as equally beneficial.

“We’re running the 12 liter Cummins Westport CNG engine and we’ve had nothing but great success in comparison to our diesel engines,” said Krug. “They’re simple in comparison to similar diesel engines and we’ve had very little down time with the CNG engines.”

According to Krug, they have reduced their downtime by 75% by converting, adding that the diesel’s emission sensors were constantly downing his trucks. This cost additional money and reduced his overall productivity. In addition, the Allison automatic transmissions were easy for his drivers to transition to and are designed to run optimally in concert with the 12 liter engines.

Category: Fuel & Oil, General Update, Green