MHQ – Meeting a Rising Demand for Natural Gas-Powered Emergency Vehicles

As an emergency vehicle supplier to police, fire and transportation departments in Northeastern United States for the past 34 years, MHQ has a good sense of what its customers want. Recently, more of its customers are telling the company they want to drive natural gas vehicles (NGVs).

Tom Emig, MHQ Fleet Account Manager, said he noticed a change in demand about two years ago, as more fleet managers were becoming aware of the price discrepancy between natural gas and diesel, and wanting to take advantage of it.

Since then, MHQ has sold an increasing number of Ford Westport WiNG™ Power System pickup trucks, plows and vans to its largest customer, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Transportation. They have purchased about 30 dedicated compressed natural gas (CNG) Ford F250s in the last two years.

“We are the biggest contractor selling vehicles to the state, so we responded to their demand,” Tom says. “Several other cities are also purchasing them as they take advantage of state and federal level-incentives.”

Among those cities are the City of Newton in Massachusetts and the City of Nashua in New Hampshire, which have both purchased NGVs from MHQ. Nashua has a population of around 90,000, and the municipality also built a compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel station to support a natural gas fleet.

Tom says that among the natural gas vehicles they offer, the dedicated CNG Ford F-250 is the most popular model.

“There’s been a surge of interest in the past few years,” Tom says.

While half of MHQ’s work orders are from the law enforcement industry, they also equip and service vehicles used in public works, housing authorities, utilities, environmental safety, universities and colleges.

The Ford dealer offers NGVs that can handle towing, plowing, landscaping, spreading or dump body requirements. Their facilities are located in Marlborough and Shrewsbury, Massachusetts as well as Middletown, Connecticut.

Visit their website to learn more: http://www.mhq.com/ or connect with them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MHQ-Vehicles-Equipment-Gear/103604726353316