Soaring fuel costs have many consumers curtailing needless driving
trips. But not Mike Frybarger. Last summer, the 49-year-old independent
trucker got in his Volvo 770 tractor-trailer, drove for 2½ days and
logged more than 1,200 miles. He passed hundreds of service stations, without stopping at any of them.
Convenience and cheap diesel fuel? He did not need them. Instead, he filled up his trucks 300-gallon tank with biodiesel at
Carls Corner, a Texas truck stop that is at the center of the nations
growing biodiesel industry.
"I heard about biodiesel on XM Radio," Mr. Frybarger said. "Bill Mack
has Willie come on his show and actually talk to truckers. Before Willie
got involved, biodiesel wasnt well known. But once Willie got behind
it, he brought biodiesel to the forefront." Willie is the musician Willie Nelson. Biodiesel is a fuel made by the
chemical mixing of alcohol and fats, greases or oils from animals or
vegetables. Proponents of this alternative fuel, including Mr. Nelson,
point out that one of Rudolf Diesels first engines was powered by
peanut oil. But by the time the Model T began rolling off Henry Fords
assembly lines, it was powered by petrochemical products, not vegetable
oils.
In 2002, Mr. Nelson got a complete update on biodiesel from a source
close to home: his wife, Annie. Ms. Nelson bought a Volkswagen Jetta
that could run on the fuel and had it shipped to their home on Maui. Mr. Nelson immediately took to the idea of driving such a vehicle. "It
didnt take him but a minute to figure out how much sense it made for
family farmers. And if you support farmers, you support the nation," Ms.
Nelson said.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Ms. Nelson said: "I had done my
research, and I bought it specifically because I wanted it to run on
biodiesel." She added: "I told the dealer to only put in enough diesel to get me
from the port to the pump. Since then, for the last four years, its
never run on anything but biodiesel." Now all of the couples vehicles run on biodiesel: the original Jetta, a
Mercedes diesel and a Dodge Ram at their Maui residence; an Excursion
and another Jetta in California; and another Mercedes in Texas. "Dont
forget the tour buses and the all the tractors in Texas," Mr. Nelson said.
The Nelsons have invested in two biodiesel production facilities,
including one at Carls Corner, where a grand opening took place on
Monday. The Dallas Mavericks assistant coach, Del Harris, the former
Dallas Mavericks head coach, Don Nelson, and Carl Corneliuss original
partner at the truck stop, the Dallas stockbroker, Monk White, are a few
of the other investors in the plant, which will be run by Pacific
Biodiesel, the company that fuels the Nelsons cars in Hawaii.
"This is our ninth and largest plant," said Bob King, the Pacific
Biodiesel president. "Initially, it will produce 8,000 gallons of
biodiesel per day. That comes out to more than two million gallons
annually. And we have the capacity to double production here at Carls
Corner to more than four million gallons." Most biodiesel fuels are not
pure biodiesel, but a blend. According to Mr. King, the mixture at
Carls Corner is 20 percent biodiesel, which means the truck stop will
be capable of selling more than 10 million gallons to truckers each year.
That pleases Mr. Frybarger, who is committed to using biodiesel whenever
possible and routinely logs on to a Web site for truckers to pinpoint
the location of truck-accessible biodiesel retail locations nationwide. Mr. Frybarger readily admits that Carls Corner is his favorite,
particularly over the Independence Day holiday. In addition to filling
his truck up with biodiesel, he also attends Willies Picnic at Carls,
a weeklong concert that culminated Monday night with performances by Ray
Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ray Price,
and, of course, Mr. Nelson himself.
Mr. Frybarger said, "Just to hear Willie sing I Fly Away is worth a
trip by itself."
(Por Eric OKeefe,
The N.Y.Times, 05/07/2006)