Westport’s 2013 Honourable Mentions

 As 2013 draws to a close, we’re taking a moment to shine the spotlight on a few Westport highlights we thought deserved another mention. From announcing a new President, to the launch of the Westport iCE PACK™ LNG Tank System, to orders for four liquefied natural gas tenders for rail, it’s been an exciting year.

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Westport’s 2013 Honourable Mentions

Feature Focus: Nancy Gougarty – “I Always Wanted to Make Things”

As Westport’s President and Chief Operating Officer, Nancy Gougarty focuses on leading Westport on a path to profitability. We’re taking a look at what put her on the path to leadership at Westport.

When Nancy joined the Westport team in August, she brought with her 35 years of experience in the automotive industry, with multinational public companies such as Delphi, General Motors and TRW Automotive Corporation. Her key areas of success in operations and international product sales at these companies made her the perfect fit for the job.

Her path to engineering success started with her education at the University of Cincinnati where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in industrial management.

“I always wanted to make things,” she says.

Her career began in 1978 when she started with General Motors’ Packard Electric Division, first as an industrial engineer and later in various roles in application engineering, finance, operations, sales and engineering. 

Border Valley Trading: Going “All In” on LNG

Greg Braun, President of Border Valley Trading is laying his cards on the table:

“We’re going all in on liquefied natural gas,” Greg says.

The California-based company is one of the largest exporters of compressed hay products in the Western United States. Border Valley Trading operates two processing facilities located in Brawley and Turlock California, and exports products like alfalfa hay and Bermuda grass for livestock feed across North America and around the world.

Driving What They’re Selling: DTE Energy on Why Their Fleet Includes NGVs

Providing electricity and gas services to over three million customers in Michigan requires DTE Energy staff to drive vehicles they can rely on. The company maintains a fleet of nearly 5,000 vehicles, which includes around 300 natural gas vehicles (NGVs). Each vehicle logs about 18,000 miles annually.

“Being a natural gas utility, we’ve always been interested in using CNG as a vehicle fuel,” says Mark Johnson, Director of Fleet Operations.

One of DTE Energy's 300 natural gas vehicles: a bi-fuel Westport WiNG™ Ford F-250 pickup.

The company’s field staff and supervisors spend a significant amount of time driving to customer sites, setting up utility service and responding to power concerns, among other duties. Several field staff drive bi-fuel Ford F-250 Westport WiNG™ Power System pickups and many will soon drive the Westport WiNG Ford F-150 dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) pickup; the company placed orders for Ford’s first-ever offering of the CNG-capable F-150.

Filling Up for the First Time: EBI Opens Canada’s First RNG Station

Don’t you love being the first one in line to fill up at a gas station?

A Quebec-based company, EBI, is offering drivers the chance to be the first ones in Canada to fill up their vehicles with renewable natural gas (RNG).

The company recently opened two public natural gas fuel stations located in Berthierville and Montreal, Quebec. The stations sell compressed natural gas (CNG) made from RNG. The fuel is produced by capturing methane gas from EBI’s landfills. Once the gas is captured, it’s stripped of impurities, channeled into Gaz Métro pipelines and made available as a fuel for any natural gas vehicle (NGV) that needs to fill up.

EBI is the first company in Canada to publicly sell RNG.

EBI: The first Canadian company to sell renewable natural gas at a public fuel station.

“We have been running natural gas trucks since 2011,” says Ghislain Lapointe, EBI’s Fleet Manager. “The trucks are quieter than diesel and emit up to 25 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than diesel powered trucks,” he said.

On the Road with Apache's Natural Gas-Powered Fleet

With a fleet of over 1,200 vehicles in the U.S., and a turnover of 100 to 200 vehicles per year, the employees at Apache Corporation know what it means to put a lot of miles on their trucks.

About half of the current fleet now runs on natural gas, says Frank Chapel, Apache’s Director of Natural Gas Transportation Fuels, and the long term goal is to have 80 per cent comprised of light and medium-duty natural gas vehicles (NGVs).

“Our whole purpose is to lead by example and promote natural gas as the transportation fuel of choice,” Frank says. “We are doing this by transforming our fleet to natural gas power and constructing supporting CNG fueling stations.”

Around half of Apache's fleet are natural gas vehicles, including bi-fuel Westport WiNG™ Power System Ford F-250s

Westport, at Your Service

Usually when fleets buy trucks, their purchase, service and support is done entirely by the manufacturer. For fleets who’ve adopted natural gas, Westport also maintains a skilled, customer-driven service team to support trucks equipped with Westport™ HPDI technology. Natural gas vehicles are still new for many users and Westport wants to ensure that fleets are supported as they adopt the new fuel and technology.

The service team dedicated to the engines and fuel systems for heavy-duty trucks offers support to customers throughout North America and Australia. The team has over 50 years of combined experience in Westport HPDI technology – a high performance engine technology developed by Westport and its founding engineers.

Running a natural gas fleet means owners and drivers need to understand some new procedures. The Westport service team trains the customer in operating and fuelling, coordinates delivery, and provides optional extra maintenance training.

Andre Zawadowicz, a member of  Westport's field service representative team,
trains first responders from multiple agencies in Lyme, Conneticuit.

"We have trained over 50 fleets, providing over 50 training courses for more than 600 personnel annually including technicians, operations, and first responders,” says Bryan Fargo, Field Service Manager for Westport.

What’s Better than Cheap CNG? Free CNG!

Westport and Clean Energy Fuels are teaming up to give customers free fuel if they buy a qualifying Westport WiNG™ Power System powered Ford vehicle before December 31, 2013. Customers who order five or more vehicles will receive credits for free compressed natural gas (CNG) at any of the retail Clean Energy CNG stations across the United States.

As leaders in the natural gas vehicle (NGV) industry, Westport and Clean Energy are working together to lead the transition to NGVs – vehicles using a cleaner fuel that is domestically abundant and more affordable than gasoline. The free fuel offer gives existing fleets, and fleets considering natural gas vehicles, the chance to enjoy the technology, performance and ease of refueling NGVs.

The free fuel credits are being offered on a “first-come-first-served” basis, and up to 750,000 gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) of CNG fuel will be given away by Westport during the promotion. Fleets have until December 31, 2015 to use their free fuel credits.