Truck Stops Continue Juicing Alternative Fuel Options

A Clean Energy fueling station. (Clean Energy)

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Truck stop operators continued to ramp up initiatives to diversify customers’ fueling options over the past month. But major chains are keeping their options open on which technology to focus on.

Pilot Co. is prepared to offer a range of alternative fuel options, including electricity, renewable diesel, biodiesel, hydrogen, compressed natural gas or liquefied natural gas, Brad Jenkins, senior vice president of supply and distribution, told Transport Topics in a recent interview.

In the long term, he said, hydrogen may turn out to be the best option for longhaul trucking whereas hub and spoke operators may tend to look toward battery-electric trucks (BETs) and renewable natural gas. Pilot is exploring hydrogen opportunities with several parties, Jenkins said, adding that the company’s interest in the potential of the fuel was high.

The North American Council for Freight Efficiency said in a report released earlier in April it expects hydrogen-powered trucks to be the best option for the trucking industry to reach zero-emission vehicle goals in the coming decades.

Knoxville, Tenn.-based Pilot currently sells 1.5 billion gallons a year of renewable fuel, 60% of which is renewable diesel and the rest biodiesel. By 2025, the Energy Information Administration estimates U.S. renewable diesel production will reach 5 billion gallons a year, equivalent to 10% of current diesel demand.

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The company also has a renewable natural gas and compressed natural gas partnership in California with Newport Beach, Ca.-based Clean Energy Fuels. Clean Energy operates more than 110 natural gas fueling stations that can accommodate Class 8 trucks, with 60 or more located at Pilot facilities.

Still, Pilot is not ruling out BETs, Jenkins said. It has plans for a coast-to-coast fast-charging EV network, teaming up with GM. Some 40-45 sites are set to be up and running by the end of 2023, Jenkins said.

The coast-to-coast network and a $1-billion revamp of Pilot’s truck stops will be the responsibility of new CEO Adam Wright and Chief Financial Officer Joe Lillo. Both are long-time employees at Berkshire Hathaway. The conglomerate controlled by Warren Buffett has been Pilot’s biggest shareholder since Jan. 31.

Trucking is in the very early days of electrification, Jenkins said. It is taking original equipment manufacturers a lot longer to bring trucks to market, he said. There’s a one- or two-decade energy transition coming, he added.

Original equipment manufacturers Volvo, Daimler and Traton formally inked plans to team up to build a pan-European electric truck charging network in July 2022. The three European-based companies — owners of four out of the top six U.S. Class 8 truck brands — expect to invest $551 million on the joint venture. Also, Daimler Truck North America, Juno Beach, Fla.-based utility NextEra Energy Resources and fund manager BlackRock on April 27 unveiled a joint venture to design, develop, install and operate a U.S. nationwide, high-performance zero-emission public charging and hydrogen fueling network for medium- and heavy-duty battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Carbon-dioxide emissions from trucks and buses have soared 80% over the last two decades, according to the International Energy Agency.

Against that background, more and more U.S. states are adopting California’s Advanced Clean Truck rule, which requires manufacturers of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to rapidly scale up the sale of zero-emission options over the next two decades. California represents 8% of truck sales historically.

The car industry is more advanced when it comes to EV options than the over-the-road trucking sector, Jenkins said, adding that its partnership with GM — which in 2021 said it aimed to be carbon neutral by 2040 — is a great opportunity to learn.

The company’s biggest challenge when it comes to a coast-to-coast charging network is the “Buy American” restrictions imposed on companies wishing to qualify for federal funding for superchargers, said Jenkins. But Jenkins said Pilot’s focus was on supplying customers with the energy they choose.

Trillium Energy Solutions, a unit of Love’s Travel Stops, is also energy agnostic. “Our goal is to serve our customers by supporting the vehicle class and type of fuel they need, and we will fulfill any demand for BET or hydrogen if this is where the market leads,” said Ryan Erickson, vice president of Trillium Energy Solutions and Kim Okafor, general manager of zero emissions at Trillium Energy Solutions.

So far though, Trillium has been focused mostly on CNG and RNG infrastructure both on and off Love’s properties. It has also installed EV chargers and has a presence in the heavy-duty hydrogen fueling space.

The EV charging market has hurdles to overcome, such as fixed costs or demand charges from utilities and low utilization, Trillium officials said.

Trillium parent Love’s is another truck stop owner planning on spending a 10-figure sum on upgrading its operations. The company plans to invest more than $1 billion upgrading 200 locations by 2028.

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Deep pockets are seen as an advantage for one of privately owned Love's rivals, TravelCenters of America Inc., which is about to be acquired by a unit of U.K.-based oil major BP. When announcing the $1.3 billion deal on Feb. 16, BP said its plans for TA would focus heavily on offering more EV charging options for truckers as well as biofuels, RNG and hydrogen as fuel.

“As fuel retailers and marketers, our members want to sell whatever fuel our customers want to buy at the lowest possible price,” Natso Spokeswoman Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman told Transport Topics May 2. “Trucks will need a reliable refueling network and our industry wants to invest in a myriad of alternative and emerging fueling technologies.” Natso is a trade group representing truck stop operators and travel plazas.

Existing liquid fuels, including biodiesel and renewable diesel, will serve as a necessary bridge for the foreseeable future until truck technology is further developed and until the market for alternative fueling technologies, including electric trucks and hydrogen, is firmly established, she added.

More charging stations equals more customers, said specialty retail analyst John Lawrence of The Benchmark Co. Alternative fueling options are “just another way to attract someone to come on your lot,” he said in an interview.

Pilot Co. ranks No. 15 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers in North America. Love’s ranks No. 34.