March 2, 2013

Foodliner Delivers Goods in Illinois With Natural Gas Tractors (Text Version)

This is a text version of the video segment Foodliner Delivers Goods in Illinois With Natural Gas Tractors, which aired on March 2, 2013.

JOHN DAVIS: Our success story this week focuses on Midwest-based Foodliner, one of America's largest bulk-food haulers. In 2010, Foodliner's fleet added six new compressed natural gas tractors for use in daily deliveries. So far, they have driven some 400,000 miles.

Refueling along their routes is made easy thanks to a public-access CNG fueling station in Des Plaines, Illinois. The company is looking into adding other CNG trucks with specialized equipment to accommodate their delivery of corn syrup and other liquid foods.

PAT O'MALLEY: The next step will be to get an engine and transmission that in combination we can put a PTO and a hydraulic pump onto our tractor. Then we'll be able to deliver to anybody.

JOHN DAVIS: The CNG trucks were acquired with the help of federal funding through the Chicago Area Alternative Fuels Deployment Project. Since joining the fleet, Foodliner CNG trucks have displaced some 80,000 gallons of gasoline, a sweet alt fuel success story from the Land of Lincoln.