Ryder sees increasing demand for natural gas trucks

Ryder System, a leader in commercial transportation and supply chain management solutions, has announced it has already secured lease agreements for 87 heavy duty natural gas trucks from customers looking to take advantage of the fuel cost savings and environmental benefits of alternative fuel powered vehicles.

Sixty five of those vehicles are part of Ryder’s natural gas fleet in Southern California, made available through the Ryder/San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) Natural Gas Vehicle project.

Due to the leadership Ryder has established with the SANBAG project, the Company has also been able to expand its alternative fuel program outside of California and has already secured a lease agreement with customer, Golden Eagle Distributors, for 22 natural gas vehicles in Arizona.

The Ryder/SANBAG project is part of a joint public/private partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Energy Commission, San Bernardino Associated Governments, Southern California Association of Governments, and Ryder. The $38.7 million project includes a total of 202 natural gas vehicles available for lease or rent, three strategically located natural gas compliant maintenance shops in Rancho Dominguez, Orange, and Fontana, and two fueling stations.

Ryder took delivery of 70 vehicles in May and is expected to have the balance of the full 202 SANBAG natural gas vehicle order in its fleet by the end of 2011.

Driven by a desire to take advantage of fuel savings and support sustainable transportation initiatives, Ryder customers Mohawk Industries and CEVA are just two examples of these early adopters that have committed to bring alternative fuel-powered vehicles into their fleets.

“Our lease and maintenance offering makes it easy for customers to incorporate new vehicle technologies, like natural gas, into their fleets,” stated Robert Sanchez, president of Global Fleet Management Solutions for Ryder. “We are fundamentally giving private fleets an alternative to ownership - helping them implement sustainable transportation alternatives by tapping into Ryder’s investments in technology, people, safety, fueling, and maintenance and service infrastructure.”

Laying the groundwork for green

Mohawk Industries, a leading supplier of flooring for both residential and commercial applications with one of the largest fleets in the U.S., has leased five liquefied natural gas (LNG) tractors to support its day-to-day customer delivery operations in Southern California. The vehicles, to be delivered in July, will be serviced out of Ryder’s maintenance facility in Fontana, CA.

Stan Brooks, director of Transportation for Mohawk Industries said, “We are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint, and with diesel fuel prices continuing to rise, the timing was right to start testing the value of natural gas vehicles in our fleet. In addition, Mohawk Industries manufactures a significant percentage of its product in the U.S., so supporting a cleaner, domestic energy source fits very well into our overall business strategy.”

The Calhoun, GA based company prides itself on being an industry leader in sustainability. Mohawk is the largest recycler in the flooring industry, and the leader in recycled and renewable flooring. The company diverts over three billion pounds of material from landfills each year.

Mohawk's goal is to develop processes and products that allow the company to focus on the five "Rs" of its “GreenWorks” platform: reduce, recover, reuse, renew, and recycle.

Brooks continued, “We could not have implemented this project without Ryder. Ryder has been our strategic transportation partner for decades. We rely on their expertise when it comes to evaluating new technologies, whether it’s for specialized equipment or alternative fuels.”

Mohawk has been a Ryder customer since 1978. Ryder provides both full-service lease and dedicated contract carriage services to Mohawk in the U.S. and Mexico.