Love's Travel Stops opened its first compressed natural gas fuel facility designed for rapid fueling of heavy-duty trucks.
It's located at the Love's Travel Stop on Interstate 40 at the Morgan Road exit in Oklahoma City.

The company also is testing its first 11.9-liter CNG engine with plans to purchase more for its 300-truck fuel delivery fleet.

The announcement signals the company's commitment to offer CNG as a viable alternative fuel for the trucking industry. Offering the product in a fast-fill dispenser enables efficient fueling of heavy-duty trucks.

Currently, a gallon-equivalent of CNG is approximately $2 less than a gallon of diesel. CNG is also an abundant, domestic fuel that is cleaner burning.

"Love's continues to listen to the needs of our customers and give them options by adding our first CNG fueling facility for professional drivers," explained Tom Love, founder and CEO of Love's Travel Stops. "We are monitoring demand for CNG and are looking to expand the availability of fast-fill CNG at our Oklahoma and Texas travel stop locations."

Love's began offering CNG for light-duty and consumer vehicles at smaller locations in Oklahoma in early 2011 through a partnership with Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy.

After conducting extensive research on natural-gas alternatives for heavy-duty trucks, the company saw benefits of using CNG for their own fuel delivery fleet. Love's also believes regional trucking fleets have an opportunity to take advantage of the cost savings.