Life's a gas for the users
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Initially, Scania and its partners are only targeting fleets with 30 vehicles or more on single sites, and they'll need to be return-to-base operations with their own refuelling station, given the sparseness of public refuelling points for CNG and LNG. The good news is that Mobil is offering to provide an on-site CHO refuelling station for free in return for a fixed-term agreement to buy fuel—typically five years according to Mobil CNG manager Tom Jaworskl. BC offers a similar arrangement on ONG though it puts the minimum number of trucks lower at 20-30 for ONG stations and five for an INC station, according to Roy James, general manager for INC fuels.
A major incentive for operators, despite the marginal Increase in tare weights, will be a claimed 15% reduction in annual fuel costs. "This is a practical way for haulage companies to reduce their largest variable cast," says Jaworski. And, while the price of gas In the future is obviously also a variable, he concedes: "It's central to the proposition that gas is a lower cost alternative."
Only Series 3 4x2 tractors will be converted for the time being, although Series 4 units will be looked at eventually; whether in 4x2 or 6x2 configuration is undecided.