Three CNG Dispensers Open at Pennsylvania Turnpike

Officials from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and Sunoco recently marked the opening of three CNG fueling dispensers at the Turnpike’s New Stanton Service Plaza located in Hempfield Township, Westmoreland County. The dispensers—one for passenger vehicles, one for commercial trucks, and one located outside the plaza gate for use by off-Turnpike vehicles—are Sunoco’s first CNG offerings in Pennsylvania since the 1990s. “CNG is especially popular among commercial truck fleets, and this plaza was selected in part because this stretch has a higher volume of truck traffic than most,” said PA Turnpike CEO Mark Compton. “Our average westbound traffic here is more than 17,500 vehicles per day; about a third of that, or 5,300 vehicles a day, is commercial vehicles—more than double our average, system-wide truck volume of 13 percent.” The Pennsylvania Turnpike last year added a pair of CNG-fueled trucks to its maintenance fleet: a single-axle Freightliner dump truck for plowing and salt application and a Mack tractor truck used to transport heavy equipment on a lowboy trailer. The trucks, both of which will be fueled at the New Stanton Plaza, are being used as part of a pilot project to test CNG.