Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has signed a multi-year natural gas fueling deal with an interstate long-haul trucking firm, Raven Transport Inc., that will include completing two new fueling stations in Clean Energy’s “natural gas highway” in Florida and Ohio.

Stations selling liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be built in Jacksonville, FL, where Raven is based, and in Franklin, OH, as part of the deal, Clean Energy said.

Operating throughout the eastern half of the nation, Raven has 36 new LNG tractor trucks hauling goods for a major U.S. consumer goods company. Those rigs travel routes through Georgia and up through the Midwest, consuming nearly 1 million diesel-gallons-equivalent of LNG annually, the company said.

Clean Energy and Raven tout the environmental advantages of their agreement as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 2,000 metric tons annually, or the equivalent of removing 350 passenger cars from the road each year.

The Raven tractors are powered by the new Cummins Westport 12-liter natural gas engine, which Clean Energy said is the powertrain that is “reshaping” the heavy-duty natural gas trucking industry. LNG and compressed natural gas used in vehicle transportation enjoy about a $1.50/gallon price advantage over gasoline or diesel, according to Clean Energy.

The “natural gas highway” is a marketing push introduced two years ago by Clean Energy to begin building a network of up to 150 stations nationally (see Daily GPI, Aug. 25, 2011).