FRITO-LAY TO ADD CNG TRUCKS TO FLEET IN WISCONSIN

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay has announced that it will add 12 new CNG-powered long-haul trucks to its fleet in Beloit, Wisconsin, to distribute products to destinations across the upper Midwest (Wisconsin, Illinois, and parts of Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota). The Freightliner trucks use Cummins Westport 8.9-liter ISL G dedicated natural gas engines. This is part of Frito-Lay’s larger plan to deploy 82 CNG trucks by the end of this year and another 100 to 200 more by the end of 2013. Frito-Lay retires 125 trucks a year and would like to replace as many as possible with those powered by natural gas. TrilliumCNG is building a private CNG fueling station at the Beloit factory. The trucks will be able to travel 800 miles without refueling, which has allowed Frito-Lay to build just one centralized fueling station. The trucks will hit the road before the station is complete, but Frito-Lay has made temporary arrangements to fuel the trucks in the meantime. Frito-Lay says the technology made economic sense for the company based on its particular routes and supply chain.