To 2014....and BEYOND!!!!

Very true but on the other hand you can get a glider that has 600HP+ and still be very very reliable and I don't see that with LP right now... I am sure it can be done but just imagine the rules they will come out with for trucks full off compressed gases...

 

I see it being implemented by the fact there are buses that are either LPG or CNG. Same with some municipal and local utility vehicle. Garbage trucks being some of them.

THOSE make sense.

 

Well, you can't run a glider in Cali without putting a DPF on it and the rules are already made for those truck as they are already operating on our highways.

 

So please explain why those make sense and OTR trucks won't besides infrastructure as I've already told the plans are in the works with the truckstop chains already?

 

Because of BTU content of the fuel and the ability to carry a sustainable amount of fuel for a days work.

The size/weight of a compressed gas cylinder enabling sufficient range on an OTR truck.

 

LNG is coming it's just a matter of when.

 

Please don't choke on your words when you read the capacities on the Freightliner website for a truck that can be ordered TODAY!
http://www.freightlinertrucks.com/Trucks/Alternative-Power-Trucks/Natural-Gas/Cascadia-113-NG

 

Also keeping the LNG warm brings up a problem. You have try and equipment started with it is 5f or below started? The LNG turns in to liquid the colder it gets. We have many times in the winter had to heat the LNG tanks up to get the fork lifts to start...

 

Reality check. I hate to be the one to say this, but it is something that I have come to grips with. The owner operator is a quickly dying breed. Mostly because of the operating costs. I've been in the business for 19 years, and have run my own equipment for 13 years, a 379 guy all the way. I've seen a lot of o/o's come and go. Long and tall is going by the way side quickly. It seems like there is a large demand for gliders, 379's, w9's, etc because the only ones you hear talking about it are the handful of guys that want them, and are the ones that want to throw their extra money into having them.

Bottom line is trucking is a business. In the big picture, there are few guys left that have the extra money to buy 8 inch pipes and all the other extras that we like. This is evident in the number of chrome shops that have gone out of business in recent years.

Our 379's and w9's are gonna be something that you play with on the weekends, like your bike or boat.

Shine it up and preserve it now.

As the independents disappear, there will be no demand for long and tall. The manufacturers are in business. Nostalgia doesn't come into play. As the long hoods represent a smaller and smaller % of sales, they'll be axed.

I know most guys will take this post the wrong way, but the ones who are "in business" will see that these are just the facts that are laid out before us. We need to realize this now because times are changing, the fun is over.

The more money we spend to build gliders and put rebuilt motors in new trucks, and trick out everything, is more money we spend to make things harder for ourselves down the road.

Some day soon the old motors are gonna be scarfed up, we're gonna have to buy new to keep the business going.

You could buy a glider today, put a 6NZ in it and go to work. That truck won't last you until the end of your career, probably not mine anyway. Not unless you constantly put money out of pocket into it. Money that you could retire with, or pay bills with, or support yourself with if you are injured.

Believe me, I've wrestled with this reality for a while now, but facts are facts.

Old is out.

2 or 3 year warranty, when its up, get another one.

Take advantage of the 10 mpg's if they ever come, that's a lot of money saved on fuel in a weeks time.

We need to run our businesses intelligently, and work toward our personal futures.

F*** these trucks and the chrome that rode in on them.

Oh well I could go on and on.

 

No I've never dealt with CNG or LNG. However the writing is on the wall as far as them replacing diesel in class 8 trucks. I don't have a dog in the fight as I'm currently planning on keeping my 2000 Western Star with a 12.7 Detroit as long as I can. I'm just commenting on what I've read and seen.
Here's a tidbit from Volvohttp://http://www.volvotrucks.com/t...m.aspx?News.ItemId=123985&News.Language=en-gb