Nexio moves closer to bringing a propane-powered bobtail to market

Another year, another step forward for Nexio, which is planning to give propane marketers what many have long sought: the renewed ability to deliver their product to customers reliably on their own product.

Several marketers are already beginning that process, deploying Nexio demonstration vehicles in the coming months amid rising gasoline and diesel prices.

“The industry’s been waiting a long time for a dedicated propane product,” says Gary Winemaster, CEO and co-founder of Nexio, which first announced its plans to develop a propane-powered bobtail during the Western Propane Trade Show & Convention in May 2024.

“With diesel at the prices they are today, it’s an extremely good financial decision,” he adds of bringing the propane bobtail to market. “At the same time, the industry is supporting using more propane.”

Since that defining spring day at the Western show, the Texas-based company has achieved several goals as it reignites new product development in the autogas market.

Nexio has exhibited the vehicle at industry events and trade shows, receiving feedback from propane marketers and adjusting the design to their liking.

This year at the Southeastern & International Propane Expo in Nashville, Tennessee, Nexio highlighted wider cab entry steps with improved spacing, redesigned handrails supporting three-point contact, illuminated footwells for low-light visibility and high-contrast grab handles for consistent usability.

“We’ve designed the truck with the driver in mind,” Winemaster says.

▶ Demo vehicles

Nexio took a big step this summer at the Red River Crossroads Propane Expo in Texas, where it unveiled a demonstration vehicle for Pico Propane and Fuels, the retail brand of Meritum Energy Holdings. After the show, the truck entered commercial fleet service with the Top Propane Retailer.

“We have watched the Nexio team take this project from concept to reality over the last few years, and we believe this truck will be a game changer for not only our company, but for the entire propane industry and any industry operating a Class 7 truck fleet,” Christopher Hill, president and CEO of Meritum and chair of the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC), shares about the launch.

Pico is one of about 10 marketers that will put the demonstration bobtail to the test over the coming months – “proving its capabilities in a real-world operating environment,” Hill adds.

The vehicle features a 7.2-liter supercharged propane V8 engine that produces 330 horsepower and 775 pound-feet of torque. It’s mated to an Allison 3500 RDS six-speed automatic transmission.

“From a performance standpoint, we think we’re better than what we initially anticipated from a horsepower and torque perspective, so I think the drivers are going to love it,” Winemaster says. “The primary purpose of the demo is to get feedback, but the real purpose is for the operators to get comfort that they like the truck, the drivers like it, and it does everything that we said it would do.”

The marketers will operate the demos for several months, he says, giving them a chance to make deliveries during the winter heating season, especially in states like Michigan, Minnesota and California. Some expressed interest in testing the truck’s performance in the hills as well.

“It’s just validation that the truck’s going to perform in all the different altitudes and temperatures, get those boxes checked and get comfort with the industry,” he adds.

While propane marketers demo the trucks, Winemaster says, the process to certify them is on schedule. In July 2025, Nexio received $6 million from PERC to help facilitate Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board certification of the company’s offerings.

Nexio is also developing a comprehensive service strategy for its propane industry customers.

Asked whether any areas of the project remain to “shore up,” Winemaster says, “We’re in good shape. We’ve worked hard for the target of the first of 2027, and now we’ll start taking orders. We’ve done a lot of one-on-ones with the marketers. Our plan is to work together with a number of bodybuilders as well. We’re in the process of putting all those pieces together.”

▶ New production location

As Nexio moves closer to bringing the truck to market, it recently secured a 77-acre industrial campus in Anderson, Texas, adding about 180,000 sq. ft. of immediately available production capacity.

Nexio says the site is fully outfitted for heavy-duty vehicle work. Its previous operator ran large-scale fabrication and assembly on the same floor space Nexio will use, leaving behind paint and blast capability, 13 overhead cranes, a dedicated test complex, racked warehousing, and finished sales and engineering offices.

“It’s exactly what we were looking for,” Winemaster says.

The Anderson facilities will operate as a bridge to Nexio’s planned Lufkin, Texas, campus – also the future site of its corporate headquarters – and as standing excess capacity once Lufkin comes online, according to the company. Anderson lets Nexio start truck production immediately and absorb volume during ramp-up, while Lufkin remains its long-range campus plan. Nexio’s engines are manufactured in Nacogdoches, Texas.

“Anderson gives us immediate capacity in a facility that was already doing work very close to ours,” says Ryan Gaul, COO of Nexio. “It gives us the infrastructure, location and access to talent we need to move faster today while creating a strong bridge to Lufkin and the larger campuses we’re building for the future.”

In addition to its focus on the U.S. market, Nexio is working to remain visible on a global stage. Its work in the trucking space drew attention internationally during Liquid Gas Week 2025 in Rio de Janeiro, where it won the Innovation Award and the Applications Award at the Global Technology Conference. Nexio is headed back to Liquid Gas Week, held this year in Istanbul, in October.

“There are a lot of international companies,” Winemaster says of Nexio’s push to remain visible globally. “Greenhouse gas reductions are very important to the Europeans. Cost reduction and propane usage are a priority for the North American market. We’ll be able to address all those things and provide a real value proposition to all the different companies.”

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