Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula C3H8. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel in domestic and industrial applications and in low-emissions public transportation. Discovered in 1857 by the French chemist Marcellin Berthelot, it became commercially available in the US by 1911. Propane is one of a group of liquefied petroleum gases. The others include propylene, butane, butylene, butadiene, isobutylene, and mixtures thereof. Propane has lower volumetric energy density, but higher gravimetric energy density and burns more cleanly than gasoline and coal.
A fuel tax is an excise tax imposed on the sale of fuel. In most countries the fuel tax is imposed on fuels which are intended for transportation. Fuel tax receipts are often dedicated or hypothecated to transportation projects, in which case the fuel tax can be considered a user fee. In other countries, the fuel tax is a source of general revenue. Sometimes, a fuel tax is used as an ecotax, to promote ecological sustainability. Fuel taxes are often considered by government agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service as regressive taxes.
A Natural Gas Vehicle (NGV) is an alternative fuel vehicle that uses compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG). Natural gas vehicles should not be confused with autogas vehicles powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), mainly propane, a fuel with a fundamentally different composition.
A tank car is a type of railroad car or rolling stock designed to transport liquid and gaseous commodities.
Autogas or LPG is liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used as a fuel in internal combustion engines in vehicles as well as in stationary applications such as generators. It is a mixture of propane and butane.
Storage tanks are containers that hold liquids or compressed gases. The term can be used for reservoirs, and for manufactured containers. The usage of the word "tank" for reservoirs is uncommon in American English but is moderately common in British English. In other countries, the term tends to refer only to artificial containers. In the U.S., storage tanks operate under no pressure, distinguishing them from pressure vessels.
A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. The combination of a semi-trailer and a tractor truck is called a semi-trailer truck.
The M35 2½-ton cargo truck is a long-lived 2½-ton 6×6 cargo truck initially used by the United States Army and subsequently utilized by many nations around the world. Over time it evolved into a family of specialized vehicles. It inherited the nickname "Deuce and a Half" from an older 2½-ton truck, the World War II GMC CCKW.
An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The M970 Semi-Trailer Refueler is a 5,000-U.S.-gallon fuel dispensing tanker designed for under/overwing refueling of aircraft. It is equipped with a filter/separator, recirculation system and two refueling systems, one for underwing and one for overwing servicing. The tanker is designed to be towed by a 5-ton, 6x6 truck tractor or similar vehicle equipped with a fifth wheel. The M970 can be loaded through the bottom or through the top fill openings. A ladder is provided at the front of the semitrailer for access to the top manhole, and a 4-cylinder diesel engine and pump assembly provides self load/unload capability. The body of the refueler is a 5,000-U.S.-gallon, single compartment, stainless steel tank. The chassis is of welded steel construction and is equipped with full floating tandem axles and a manually operated landing gear. There has been talk of retiring the M970, but a suitable off-road replacement has not been found. The Marine Corps also uses R-9 and R-10 tankers, but they are not capable of off road use. The M970 is a part of the "United States Marine Corps Maintenance Center - Albany, Georgia, USA - An Integrated Enterprise Scheduling Case Study" which is working to upgrade the Semitrailer for future use.
A specialized set of jargon describe the tools, equipment, and employment sectors used in the trucking industry in the United States. Some terms may be used within other English-speaking countries, or within the freight industry in general. For example, shore power is a term borrowed from shipping terminology, in which electrical power is transferred from shore to ship, instead of the ship relying upon idling its engines. Drawing power from land lines is more efficient than engine idling and eliminates localized air pollution. Another borrowed term is "landing gear", which refers to the legs which support the front end of a semi-trailer when it is not connected to a semi-truck. Some nicknames are obvious wordplay, such as "portable parking lot", in reference to a truck that carries automobiles.
A tank container or tanktainer is an intermodal container for the transport of liquids, gases and powders as bulk cargo. It is built to the ISO standards, making it suitable for different modes of transportation; as such, it is also called an ISO tank. Both hazardous and non-hazardous products can be transported in tank containers.
The United States federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon for diesel fuel. Proceeds from the tax partly support the Highway Trust Fund. The federal tax was last raised on October 1, 1993, and is not indexed to inflation, which increased 111% from Oct. 1993 until Dec. 2023. On average, as of April 2019, state and local taxes and fees add 34.24 cents to gasoline and 35.89 cents to diesel, for a total US volume-weighted average fuel tax of 52.64 cents per gallon for gas and 60.29 cents per gallon for diesel.
A liquid-hydrogen trailer is a trailer designed to carry cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2) on roads being pulled by a powered vehicle. The largest such vehicles are similar to railroad tanktainers which are also designed to carry liquefied loads. Liquid-hydrogen trailers tend to be large; they are insulated. Some are semi-trailers.
A vacuum truck, vacuum tanker, vactor truck, vactor, vac-con truck, vac-con is a tank truck that has a pump and a tank. The pump is designed to pneumatically suck liquids, sludges, slurries, or the like from a location into the tank of the truck. The objective is to enable transport of the liquid material via road to another location. Vacuum trucks transport the collected material to a treatment or disposal site, for example a sewage treatment plant.
A gas carrier, gas tanker, LPG carrier, or LPG tanker is a ship designed to transport LPG, LNG, CNG, or liquefied chemical gases in bulk.
In rail transport, the U.S. DOT-111 tank car, also known as the TC-111 in Canada, is a type of unpressurized general service tank car in common use in North America. Tank cars built to this specification must be circular in cross section, with elliptical, formed heads set convex outward. They have a minimum plate thickness of 7⁄16 inch (11.1 mm) and a maximum capacity of 34,500 US gallons. Tanks may be constructed from carbon steel, aluminum alloy, high alloy steel, or nickel plate steel by fusion welding.
The 6-ton 6×6 truck was a family of heavy tactical trucks built for the United States Army during World War II. The basic cargo version was designed to transport a 6- short ton (5,400 kg) cargo load over all terrain in all weather. The chassis were built by Brockway Motor Company, The Corbitt Company, The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company (FWD), Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation, and White Motor Company. They were replaced by the M54 5-ton 6x6 trucks in the 1950s.
A fuel container is a container such as a steel can, bottle, drum, etc. for transporting, storing, and dispensing various fuels.
Mahathi Fuel Transport and Storage Depot is a privately-owned inland, lakeside fuel transport and storage depot in Uganda. Gasoline, kerosene, diesel-fuel and Jet A1 are delivered by ship from Kisumu, across Lake Victoria in neighboring Kenya. The fuel is stored here and conveyed by truck to final destinations in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan, significantly cutting down delivery times and transport costs.
