Fleet Owners Look Beyond Diesel to Cheaper Natural Gas

Courtesy of Sun Sentinel by Doreen Hemlock: If you think your fuel prices are high, consider the burden for Jason Foltz, a partner in a Fort Lauderdale  trucking company that depends on diesel.

With diesel costing about 40 cents per gallon more than regular gasoline, the fuel bill for his two-truck fleet now runs about $5,000 a month. That’s such a hefty outlay that he’s looking to switch fuels.

He’s considering a $15,000 investment to convert his trucks to run on compressed natural gas, which costs about half as much as diesel and burns cleaner.

“The diesel price makes it hard to operate,” Foltz said of his Nationwide Transport Services LLC. “But if we cut $2,500 a month from our fuel bill, we’ll get our investment back in a year and it will help us out dramatically.”

Diesel used to be cheaper than gasoline and a favored fuel choice for trucks, buses and other commercial vehicle fleets. But in the past decade, since new U.S. environmental rules mandated a lower sulfur content, diesel prices have jumped to surpass those of gasoline.

 

Category: Fuel & Oil, General Update, Management