LNG Power.

I'm currently in an LNG. Just had a 25,000 mile oil change. The oil was just a clear coming out at 25,000 as it was when it was put in. Change the plugs at 50,000 miles. Yep, plugs.

Does it lack power? Yes and that maybe the understatement of the year.

Does it have engine retarders? Well, there is a switch that says there is power going to that switch but you can't here or feel any difference in the actual retarding of the brakes.

The good things are, there is no emission issues to worry about, it goes in at -200 (or -240, I forget), so you don't have to worry about the fuel gelling up in the winter, and you have virtually no wait when you get fuel.

Am I concerned about it exploding? Not at all. As I said, it's extremely cold and the normal operating pressure is 125 psi, so the cryogenic gas isn't under a great deal of pressure.

Finally, driving the LNG east of the Mississippi, (plus LA and TX) is not too much of an issue finding gas. Sometimes the filling stations go down and you have to wait on the service truck to come out and get it back up and running again and that can create a delay in delivery if you are on a tight schedule. The biggest issue I have is trying to gas-and-go late at night and some diesel turd has the entrance or exit to the gas station blocked, because he thought that open space was a parking spot or he parked at the gas pumps because he didn't realize those were active pumps.

If you are talking about the one at exit 42, that's not an LNG station, it's CNG (the difference is Liquid vs Compressed). That station is primarily for Krug Energy's 20 KWs and a few other local trucks in the area.

 

What is the range on your truck? Does LNG have a longer range than CNG? I see a lot of oilfield trucks running on, I think, CNG in ne Louisiana and e TX. Just curious.

 

@kemosabi49
We have dual tanks on these trucks and I can go about 600 miles on a fill up. I try not to go more than 250 or so without topping off because you never know when a station is going to be down. Generally speaking, you try not to pass up a fuel stop, even if you can only put on 20 gallons.

The range is probably the biggest reason the boss choose LNG over CNG. Yes, you can go further with LNG and filling up is fast, maybe 12 minutes from start to finish.

 

No sir, I wouldn't say "a lot", but there is "enough". If you pass one up, you may end up running out before you can get to the next one. A case in point is you are headed to a delivery and you have your next plan and it comes right back by the station, you can feasibly skip it going down and top off on the way back up. However, Murphy will sometimes rear his head and once you make your delivery, your load assignment gets changed to a pick up in the opposite direction of the filling station. It is entirely possible to run out before you can get back to where you had planned on fueling now.

For example, 4 stations in GA, 2 stations in FL, 2 in AL, 1 in TN, 1 in SC. Most of them are in or very near the parking lots of Pilot Flying J's. The closest one to you is Ocala at the Pilot. UPS fuels at their yards and has LNG/CNG/Diesel, and whatever else they may use delivered directly to their terminals. Dillion is probably the same way, although I see there are 3 CNG stations in Tampa: at the airport, at 301 and MLK, and on US 41 and Madison (I think that's near the port).

And yes sir, the box behind the cab is usually an indication of CNG. I want to say I've seen some CNG-labeled saddletanks, but I wouldn't bet the house on it.

 

Unfortunately, Murphy (what-can-go-wrong-will) showed up today in almost the exact scenario I laid out in post #20. The LNG station that I had to go a little out of the way to get my gas was down, and had been for several days, unbeknownst to me. It seems this temporary truck is not getting all of the messages the company sends out about stations going down. I ended up having to backtrack 150 miles and even then, just as I got to the top of the exit ramp, the truck began to loose power and it doesn't have much to loose to begin with.

I made it to the station and checked the pressure on the tank: 105 PSI (again, normal operating PSI is 125 and when it gets to 100, just like the 3rd strike in baseball....you're out). The actual fuel gauge on the dash had been showing empty for 30 miles but that gauge is not a true indication of how much fuel you have left, that's what the pressure gauge on the tank is for.