Vocational Energy Teams Up with Ohio Dairy to Launch Public-Access CNG Fueling Station

ORRVILLE, Ohio, Aug. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Vocational Energy is excited to announce the grand opening of their first public access compressed natural gas [CNG] fueling station, constructed for Smith Dairy Products Company, located about 20 miles west of Canton.

The station, capable of producing 420 DGE [diesel gallon equivalent] per hour, was designed and constructed by Vocational Energy, headquartered in Fontana, Cal. The station will be open to the public and will play a crucial role in helping Smith Dairy reach their long-term goal of becoming diesel independent, said Smith Dairy spokesperson, Rebekah Shipper.

The owners really looked 'big picture' with regard to the station – and wanted to build a station that was not only good for Smith Dairy, but one that was also beneficial to theindustry and the environment.

Shipper said Smith Dairy conducted economic impact studies to look at route efficiencies, vehicle fuel usage, and other metrics – and decided that migrating to domestic natural gas made perfect sense. The owners of Smith Dairy are also committed to sustainability of the earth and what they would leave for their grandchildren. They wanted to do the right thing the first time. They wanted to be part of the solution, said Shipper.

Scott Edelbach, President of Vocational Energy, believes that Smith Dairy is taking a bold step by making the move to CNG-powered vehicles and investing in a public-access fueling station. We commend Smith Dairy for understanding the importance of domestic natural gas – and investing in infrastructure that will benefit others in the community who are looking to move away from foreign oil.

Vocational Energy has always stood by our philosophy that the nation can't wait on the government to find funding for infrastructure – it's something that has to be initiated by the business sector, said Edelbach, adding, Smith Dairy exemplifies that philosophy and is providing the leadership needed.

Shipper said that Smith Dairy has seven Freightliner CNG-powered tractors on the road currently with plans to purchase only CNG-powered vehicles in the future. According to Shipper, driver feedback has been outstanding – noting that drivers are enthusiastic about the Allison® automatic transmissions and the fact that the natural gas engines are so much quieter.

In terms of the future, Shipper said it only looks better ... and greener. We believe it will take companies supporting each other to make CNG take off en mass. We're going to help other people believe that too.

Vocational Energy is one of the companies under the umbrella of Trucks.com, a multi-faceted business that offers new trucks, used reconditioned trucks, truck parts, rental trucks, and route-ready trucks through many well-known web-driven store fronts, such as Trucks and Parts of Tampa and Big Truck Rental, which specializes in the renting of quality Heil garbage trucks.