THE FUEL OF THE FUTURE?

PETER PERROTTA

A little-paid-attention-to seminar at this year's Productivity Conference in Houston was one entitled: Alternative Fuel Trucks -- One Company's Experience With Liquid Natural Gas.

The company is the H.E. Butt Grocery Co., Houston.

"This is probably the fuel of the future," said Mike Moynahan, distribution equipment/asset manager for H-E-B.

Moynahan cited two big reasons for this assessment.

First off, he said liquid natural gas (LNG) runs a lot cleaner than diesel fuel.

Second, he said, "We need to reduce our dependency on foreign oil."

H-E-B has been experimenting with using LNG to fuel its transportation fleet for several years, officials there said.

The pilot program began with the purchase of 12 trucks in 1999.

It has advanced so far along that currently every single truck in H-E-B's fleet has been converted to the duel fuel variety that runs on either LNG or diesel fuel, said Mireo Latham, distribution equipment/asset manager, H-E-B.

"No other company has done this," Latham said.

While no other company has done this to the extent that H-E-B has, officials from Stater Bros. Markets, Colton, Calif., told SN that they, too, are running some of their transportation fleet on LNG.

Bob Roode, senior vice president of distribution, Stater Bros., said his company is not as far along in the process as H-E-B.

"It's a little bit tough on us; we are having some problems with it," Roode said.

Roode said that Stater Bros. was in the process of converting some of their fleet to the LNG fueling system.

However, he said getting his fleet drivers to accept the new fuel system has not been the problem.

Officials at H-E-B also said that it has taken their fleet operation some time to adjust to the break-in period and work out the kinks.

But in the long run, Moynahan said, the benefits will outweigh the disadvantages.

"This whole process is like a 12-year-old child now," Latham added. "It's in puberty; it's trying to come out.

"Ultimately, it has worked well for us," he added.

Latham said that the oil-rich Houston area, with its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, has an abundance of natural gas.

While reducing dependency on foreign oil, by doing the conversion to a duel fuel engine, H-E-B is also being environmentally friendly, Latham said.

He explained that one traditionally diesel-fueled tractor trailer spews enough pollutants equal to 200 cars.

"We also wanted to have an impact on the environment in Houston," Latham said.

Currently, H-E-B uses a duel fuel engine in its trucks that is put out by Caterpillar, Peoria, Ill. There are two models, a C-10 and a C-12.

Latham said a Sterling Tractor outfitted with the Caterpillar duel fuel engine and two LNG tanks costs about $115,000.

One tank, mounted under the passenger side of the cab, can hold 119 gallons of LNG, while a backup tank holds an additional 72 gallons, Latham said.

A truck using a single LNG tank has a mileage range of about 420 miles, Latham said. The duel fuel set-up has a range of 660 miles, he added.

Latham said the duel fuel system runs 90% of the time on LNG, using the diesel as a backup system in case of malfunctions.

In the beginning, Latham said H-E-B had some problems with the LNG tanks maintaining the proper amount of pressure.

However, he said those problems seemed to have been worked out.

"The tanks and the gas injectors on the engines had given us the most difficulty," Latham said.

Latham said the advantages of the LNG system include:

Reliability.

No need for spark plugs.

The duel fuel system.

Reduced engine wear.

Lower costs.

Moreover, by converting to the duel fuel system, H-E-B saved money and time because it had to do fewer oil changes.

"We pretty much went out and bought the trucks with all the bells and whistles," Latham said.

"Our drivers were very excited with the new trucks," he added.

H-E-B said that a big part of the initial investment was installing a LNG fueling site for the fleet. This is a step Stater Bros. has not taken yet, but is contemplating.

Latham said it costs about $610,000 for H-E-B to install a LNG fueling site and an additional $185,000 to do a maintenance shop conversion.

An additional $14,200 was spent on training, he added.

"So far, we have not had a single issue with the [maintenance] shop," Latham said.

"As far as the training goes, well that is an ongoing thing. It's really an easy system to train on," he explained.

As far as obstacles go, as the program evolved, Latham cited the following:

Resistance to change.

Driver concerns, including power, torque, reliability and safety.

Getting roadside assistance if needed.

Confusion of having two fueling options.

Additional weight of tanks.

"Every problem that has come up has been a challenge," Latham said. "I am just glad we stuck with it. It has come around."

While prices fluctuate, Latham said that currently, diesel fuel is running about $1.15 per gallon, with LNG coming in at $1.04 per gallon.

Latham said that when "costed out" the cost per mile to run trucks on LNG is actually a little bit higher, but not significantly higher.

For all of the aforementioned reasons, he still feels it's more advantageous to use the LNG system.

The maintenance problems with the system have largely been with the fuel tanks.

"It's not the duel fuel engines," Latham said. "It's the tanks. We have changed the tanks on every truck about three times. Getting the right pressure seems to be tricky."

Oil change intervals for the LNG duel fuel engines run about once every 40,000 miles, with fuel injectors needing replacement after 75,000 miles, Latham said.

On a diesel fuel engine, oil has to be replaced once every 20,000 miles, he explained.

"One big issue we did have, though, were the warning lights," he added.

"The drivers must pay attention to the warning lights, amber, red, what have you."

One warning H-E-B officials did have for any other distributors or retailers who may be thinking about using this system is that don't expect it to be a plug-and-go operation.

"Have your drivers buy into the program," Latham said.

"It has not been easy."