GAIN Clean Fuel, a division of U.S. Oil that specializes in compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling solutions, has partnered with heavy-duty transportation company Roehl Transport Inc. to build a large CNG station in Gary, Ind.
GAIN Clean Fuel General Manager Bill Renz tells NGT News that this facility is going to be a monster: eight dual-hose CNG dispensers laid out specifically to accommodate tractor-trailers. In addition to Roehl's own fleet of heavy-duty natural gas vehicles, the site will also need to serve CNG-powered trucks operated by Chicago-based HMD Trucking Inc., which signed a long-term fuel-supply contract with GAIN Clean Fuel.
Both Roehl and HMD are in the initial stages of NGV deployment and are awaiting trucks equipped with Cummins Westport's ISX12 G natural gas engines. HMD's fleet numbers more than 150 tractors; Roehl operates more than 10 times that many trucks.
The station will be constructed on Cline Ave. in Gary, which runs perpendicular to Interstates 80/94 and 90 – two of the most heavily traveled highways in the Midwest. Renz says the Cline Ave. station is being built on Roehl's property, adjacent to the company's hub. Access to and from the interstates is ideal in this location, he notes – virtually no stoplights along a straight shot between I-80/94 and I-90.
Renz says HMD's and Roehl's fueling patterns will ultimately determine how big the station gets, in terms of the volume of on-site CNG storage and the needed compression. However, up to six 200 hp compressors is well within the realm of possibility.
The new Gary facility is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2014.
