American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015 - 75

SpecialReport: Finance & Logistics
"For one, there is more focus on
sharing assets," Martin responds. "In the
Gulf of Mexico, companies are working
on how to share boats, aviation, and the
ground transportation supplying offshore
operations. Operators are looking to increase productivity by using the same
type of strategy onshore to share assets
within a given area."
Another trend is more detailed planning
and scheduling to build lead-time buffers,
Martin continues. "There is a growing
emphasis on creating better visibility to
the material needs at each of a well's
stages. That information is being used
then to plan a logistics calendar to identify
exactly what transportation resources are
going to be needed, plan each event on
the schedule, and implement an execution
process that allows lead times of at least
24 hours."
History shows that innovations born
out of necessity to improve margins
during downturns often endure and become best business practices that make
sense during any commodity price cycle.
Martin says several aspects of today's
logistics optimization efforts are likely
to follow that convention.
"One likely permanent change is the
movement from every order being discrete
to creating a material supply chain plan
that encompasses all functions and activities using a dedicated or integrated
common carrier solution to pull through
dollars," he states.
The solutions in Ryder's heavy-duty
fleet include both compressed natural
gas and liquefied natural gas trucks. In
fact, Martin reports, the company's natural gas units have logged 50 million
cumulative miles to date for customers
in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida,
Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan,
New York, Texas, Utah and Quebec,
Canada..
"We have a flexible lease program,
Flex-to-Green, that gives customers the
opportunity to move from a diesel truck
to a natural gas model any time following
the first full year of the lease," he notes.
"This allows them to test and evaluate
the benefits of NGVs in their operations
in a no-risk type scenario. With lower
diesel prices, the cost savings are not as
obvious, but there is still a lot of interest.
We operate 18 shops with natural gascompliant facilities and offer more than
4,000 NGV-trained technicians with plans
to increase."
Martin says Ryder is collaborating

with original equipment manufacturers
to provide feedback on maintenance
issues, running costs, and driver perspectives to continue to refine natural gas engine performance. "Based on what we
are seeing, the technology has improved
to the point where there is really not a
comparative difference in pulling power
in larger-horsepower natural gas versus
diesel engines," he concludes. "Drivers
tell us they really enjoy the smoother,
quieter ride."

Responding To Changes

In December 2009, the first crude oil
unit train left Stanley, N.D., carrying
light, sweet production from the Bakken
Shale play south on BNSF Railway-operated lines to Oklahoma. Today, the
overwhelming majority of oil produced
in the Williston Basin is transported by
rail, according to Teresa Perkins, assistant
vice president, petroleum and industrial
products, at BNSF.

NOVEMBER 2015 75

American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015

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