Equipped with a connection for utility vehicles and a truck fuel hose, the two heavy duty vehicles from Finsterwalder are headed for the erdgas-schwaben gas-station in Gersthofen right next to the B2 four times a day. It takes five minutes on average to fill up one truck; this is exactly recorded in the log-books. 80 to 100 kilograms of powerful bio-methane are filled in, compressed to 250 bar and exactly timed for the route, the length of the route, the load and the stop in Gersthofen. The trucks could fill in approx. 180 kilograms which would last for 300 kilometers, but Finsterwalder doesn’t use it to the maximum at the moment because of the timed routing.  “The two trucks are used in shuttle transports between plants of an automobile manufacturer on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 22 p.m.,” says Michael Finsterwalder, Managing Director of Finsterwalder Transport & Logistik GmbH. Timed transports that have to be exactly planned, in order to meet deadlines reliably.

Positive Long Term Test
The two bio-methane trucks have been on the road in regular operation for Finsterwalder since fall 2013. The long term test phase, which Finsterwalder runs in cooperation with truck manufacturer IVECO, will end in spring 2014. The current results are positive, even if it hasn't been possible yet to test under freezing conditions due to the mild winter. “The drivers are satisfied, we haven’t had any failures and no downtimes,” reports Peter Herget, Kraftverkehrsmeister [manager of motor traffic] at Finsterwalder. “Driving the semi-truck, it feels like driving a classic gasoline run truck with a higher number of revolutions when starting in comparison to the diesel engine.” Each of the two bio-methane trucks covers 25,000 kilometers per month, after 60,000 kilometers they go to inspection.

On the move in a climate friendly way
“We stick with the topic,” says Michael Finsterwalder about the first results of the intensive test phase. For him, heavy goods vehicle traffic with CNG is the future when seeking environment friendlier and more future-oriented types of driving. A convincing aspect is the climate friendliness through reduced pollutant emissions and the low noise level. The higher initial costs amortize every kilometer, as the fuel consumption of natural gas compared to diesel is lower. “On the range of 300 kilometers still has to be worked on, but with our fleet that is two years young on average, we are in any case taking part in the future of natural gas HGV traffic, combined with a logistic over all concept.” Meant is the availability of natural gas and bio-methane on the routes. When expanding the natural gas truck fleet, for Finsterwalder it would be attractive, if there were further natural gas stations in Jengen and Asbach-Bämenheim, near the Finsterwalder locations. <
 
Source: Many thanks to erdgas schwaben/3e