Starting July 15, PACCAR Leasing Co. (PacLease) and Kenworth Sales Co. will make available the first vehicles under their recently announced liquefied natural gas (LNG) truck rental program.
The program allows heavy-duty trucking fleets to rent vehicles that run on LNG in lieu of signing long-term leases or buying new LNG trucks. The program is aimed mainly at fleets that are running routes in Utah, Idaho, eastern Oregon and the Las Vegas area. To accommodate the fleets' refueling needs, the companies partnered with Blu LNG, which recently completed a network of LNG stations in these areas.
The four truck configurations are being built off the Kenworth T800 platform, equipped with one 120-gallon LNG fuel tank and a 15-liter ISX G natural gas engine from Westport HD. The first trucks to come off the assembly line are tandem axle day cab units specified for local and regional-haul operations with 80,000 GVW ratings. Trucks designed for sleeper and heavy-haul operations will follow later in July.
The vehicles will be available at Kenworth Sales' Salt Lake City dealership and PacLease franchise location at 2125 South Constitution Blvd., West Valley City, Utah. Fleets can order the trucks on monthly rental terms.
With 48 hours' notice, the trucks also can be moved to select Kenworth Sales Co.-PacLease locations throughout the four western states where Blu's completed its LNG fueling stations. The three Idaho locations are in Boise, Idaho Falls and Jerome. In Utah, there are three in Salt Lake City, one in Salina and one in Washington. There are also locations in Las Vegas, and Pendleton, Ore.