Canadian Transportation & Logistics
June 2013
To everything there is a season
Natural gas continues to wriggle its way into the transportation industry’s heart as a fuel of choice, the latest examples of which include Bison Transport, which has entered into a five-year agreement with Shell Canada to run 15 liquefied natural gas (LNG) tractors in Alberta, and Robert Transport’s more than three year-long investment in an LNG-powered fleet serving one of Canada’s busiest truck corridors.
Bison’s move is the more recent and also served as the first step in launching Shell’s LNG refuelling infrastructure in Wild Rose Country (the grand opening was held May 28). Bison is using Shell’s Flying J outlets in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer to refuel its LNG fleet once all is up and running.
Trevor Fridfinnson, Bison’s vice-president of western operations, says “a convergence of factors have made it potentially economically viable,” noting that the company thinks the move could be the right thing for the industry as a whole from a sustainability aspect. “You put those factors together and it lined up, as now is a time when we’re willing to go down that path.”