“Two years ago we purchased two Kenworth T440s with the Cummins Westport ISL G engine, and a pre-production Kenworth T660 with the new 12-liter Cummins ISX12 G engine,” said Fred Dufour, who serves as senior vice president for Monarch Beverage. “No grant money was used, we paid the straight premium. We ran the trucks hard, on long-haul and regional routes, amassing more than 100,000 miles on each. Our fuel economy was 5.7 mpg (diesel gallon equivalent) compared to 6.2 with our diesel fleet. Since the CNG cost was just 30 percent that of diesel, the money we saved on fuel was substantial. We figured the payback for the up-cost on CNG equipment to be 2.3 years.”
With that overwhelming data, Dufour moved forward with additional Kenworth T440s with CNG. “We have been running 27 of the T440s since June of 2012 and they’re doing great,” he said. “And, other than having spark ignition and spark plugs to deal with, and a different kind of engine oil, there really is no difference in maintenance practices. From a fuel tank standpoint, they just need to be monitored and maintained, but our technicians have been trained and certified for that duty.”
“We’ve made a long-term commitment toward CNG,” said Dufour. “We have placed additional orders for Kenworth T440s, and by 2015, 90 of our 105 trucks will be CNG-powered.”
Source: Kenworth Truck Company.
