OKLAHOMA CITY --Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores has opened its first compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling location in Georgia, to serve one of the country's largest trucking firms, Werner Enterprises.
The Love's Travel Stop in Thomson, Ga., now features in-lane fast-fill CNG, which enables a driver to fill a 100-gallon-equivalent tank in 10 minutes or less. The site, which is Love's 12th CNG fueling location, also offers diesel and diesel exhaust fuel (DEF).
Oklahoma City-based Love's added CNG at the Thomson travel center thanks to an agreement with Werner, which has a fleet of more than 7,100 trucks and is among the top five largest truckload carriers in the United States. Werner was planning to buy eight CNG trucks for the Thomson area as part of its sustainability efforts, but did not have a reliable fueling source for the alternative fuel.
"We needed a convenient location where our drivers could have access to other necessities," said Steve Phillips, senior vice president of fleet resources for Werner Enterprises, Omaha, Neb. "Love's has been a great business partner so we reached out to them. The opening of this new location and others allows us to continue to invest in domestically produced energy, which is important to us and our customers."
According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Thomson Love's Travel Stop is the second CNG fueling site in the Greater Augusta area, and the first in Thomson.
"Customers in east Georgia, including Werner, are asking for more CNG locations and we're happy to meet that need," said Bill Cashmareck, general manager of natural gas for Love's. "Thomson is an ideal location because Interstate 20 is a major east-west route. This location will serve residents, fleets and leisure travelers who need a convenient place to fill."
This 12th CNG fueling location for Love's joins two in Oklahoma, eight in Texas and one in Ohio. The travel store chain is working on two more in Oklahoma, one additional site in Texas and its first CNG fueling locations in Arizona, New Mexico and Arkansas.
Family-owned and -operated Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores was founded in 1964 and has more than 340 locations in 40 states.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.