AMP Americas announced that it signed a deal in which the products of two dairy cooperatives, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Select Milk Producers, will be hauled by trucks fueled with compressed natural gas (CNG).
Under the agreement, AMP-Trillium, a venture between AMP Americas and Trillium CNG, will build seven public fueling stations by early 2014. The deal also calls for the leasing of CNG-fueled trucks to two trucking companies that haul the products of the dairy cooperatives. The trucks are expected to travel more than 13.2 million miles per year, servicing routes throughout Texas.
The stations will be built in Amarillo, Harrold, Kerrville, Midland, Sweetwater, Waco and Weatherford, and will initially fuel forty new Class 8 Kenworth and Peterbilt CNG sleeper trucks, a number that will double over the course of the agreement, the companies said.
“It is estimated that the culmination of this deal will displace carbon emissions equal to removing 2,400 cars per year from the road and will save the supply chain $1.50 to $2.00 in fuel savings on every gallon sold. It lets us build a network of public, fast-fill CNG stations across all of the major Texas corridors that can be used by any fleet running trucks across the state,” Nathan Laurell, CEO of AMP Americas, said in a statement announcing the project.
“This new network of CNG stations will allow AMP-Trillium to meet the rapidly increasing demand for CNG cars and trucks. The low cost, low-carbon emissions, and reliability of CNG has made it the ideal alternative to gasoline and diesel fuels,” said Mary Boettcher, president of Trillium CNG.
The deal structured by AMP Americas features beneficial contract terms for fleets operated by Western Dairy Transport, Cabool, Mo., and Reynolds Nationwide, San Antonio, Texas, according to the statement.
AMP Americas, LLC, a Chicago-based energy company focused on displacing liquid fuels with CNG, builds and owns CNG fueling stations for long-haul truck fleets and finances leases for CNG trucks. AMP operates a renewable natural-gas plant that produces fuel from cow manure. AMP Americas is a member of the Department of Energy’s National Clean Fleets Partnership tasked to reduce the nation’s dependency on imported oil.
Trillium CNG, Chicago, Ill., a business unit of Integrys Energy Group, also of Chicago, is a provider of CNG to fleets, and also offers complete facility design, construction, operation and maintenance services. Its focus is on fueling heavy-duty fleets that require high-performance solutions.
Dairy Farmers of America, Inc. (DFA), Kansas City, Mo., is a national dairy marketing cooperative that serves and is owned by more than 13,000 members on more than 8,000 farms in 48 states.
Select Milk Producers, Inc., Artesia, N.M., is a cooperative that was formed in 1994 by a group of large dairy producers. Today the cooperative comprises 87 family owned dairies in three primary geographic areas: Texas, New Mexico, and the Midwest. All together Select produces and markets over 6 billion pounds of milk annually.
