Frequenting a station now that is everything a CNG station should be makes a big difference in operating my CNG truck. In the beginning, half the battle was just finding stations in the first place. Now that I have been operating for going on two years with CNG, I have finally nailed down the ultimate primary fueling point for my local operation. Of course the creature comforts play a part in picking a good place to fuel. Things like showers, convenience stores and freshly prepared food are often normal at most truck stops, but in the CNG world they're all rarities indeed!
As much as I appreciate the convenient location, cleanliness and prices at my particular primary feeling location, as a local driver, all of it pales in comparison to the fuel flow rates this station puts out. Yes, it is nice to get a cup of coffee when I stop to fuel, but it is even nicer to get in and out fueling 107 diesel equivalent gallons of CNG within 15 minutes! The icing on the cake at this station is that I often get over 4000 PSI fast fills. Of course this settles back down to 3500-3600 PSI, but fills like this when fueling that much volume are usually not that easy to come by.
When a person first starts fueling CNG, running the gauntlet of fuel stations to find the best ones can be quite nerve-racking. Add to that the need to find stations with compressors able to handle such volumes frequently and effectively and CNG fueling can seem like a daunting task. The fact that the station I use has every convenience a truck stop needs does not hold near the importance to me that their phenomenal fuel flow rates have on my decision to fuel there. The way I look at it, getting 4000 PSI fills every time is reason enough for me to go there in it!