Retailer Takes Delivery of First 11 LNG Tractors in Oregon

On Thursday, Fred Meyer Stores, a division of The Kroger Co., announced the arrival of the first 11 LNG-powered heavy duty Freightliner trucks. Fred Meyer will receive a total of 40 LNG trucks over the next several months, making Fred Meyer the first in Oregon to deploy a fleet of heavy duty LNG trucks. The trucks will replace 40 diesel trucks currently in use, and will deliver product to Fred Meyer stores as far south as Corvallis, Oregon, and as far north as Longview, Washington. The trucks will average approximately 175 miles per day, six days a week, 52 weeks a year. “Converting to LNG trucks allows us to reinvest savings into lower prices while also providing a great benefit to the environment,” said Lynn Gust, president of Fred Meyer Stores. The fleet will be fueled at a new, private LNG fueling station at Fred Meyer’s Clackamas Distribution Center, which has been designed and engineered by Clean Energy Fuels. Clean Energy will also supply the LNG for the fueling station, and once all 40 trucks are active, they are expected consume approximately one million gallons a year. Kroger has invested $6.5 million in the project and has received a $490,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration via ODOT for the LNG infrastructure. Kroger has applied for $360,000 in grant funding from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to retire nine diesel trucks and completely replace them with LNG trucks.