Saddle Creek chooses Ryder for natural gas vehicle solution
Ryder System, Inc., a leader in commercial transportation and supply chain management solutions, today announced that it has been selected by Saddle Creek Logistics Services (Saddle Creek) for a natural gas vehicle solution in two markets. With the agreement, Saddle Creek will lease 31 heavy duty compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles from Ryder. Thirty of the CNG vehicles will run in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas region and be maintained by Ryder at its Fort Worth service facility, which is being upgraded to meet the unique compliance requirements for natural gas. One vehicle will operate in Saddle Creek’s Shreveport, Louisiana delivery fleet and be maintained at Ryder’s existing natural gas vehicle maintenance facility in that city.
With natural gas vehicles already available for lease and rent in California, Arizona, Michigan, New York, and Louisiana, Ryder now adds Texas as its newest market with a natural gas vehicle maintenance capability.
“Ryder is leveraging its leadership in natural gas to make it as easy as possible for customers to implement sustainable transportation solutions that also enable them to realize meaningful cost-savings and efficiencies,” said Ryder President of Global Fleet Management Solutions, Dennis Cooke. “When businesses want the most experience, knowledge, and expertise in natural gas vehicle solutions, they turn to Ryder.”
Saddle Creek, a 47-year-old, family-owned, third party logistics provider offers comprehensive integrated logistics services and has locations across the contiguous 48 states. Saddle Creek will take delivery of the new CNG vehicles during the first quarter of 2014. The CNG vehicles are part of a strategic initiative by Saddle Creek to reduce its carbon footprint and control fuel costs. The company already has more than 100 CNG tractors in its fleet of 430 vehicles, making it one of the largest CNG over the road tractor fleet in operation in the country. Saddle Creek also invested in its own fueling station at its Lakeland, Florida headquarters.
“Saddle Creek’s environmentally friendly CNG program has enabled us to be extremely successful in supporting our customers’ sustainability efforts. We are excited to expand our CNG capabilities to the Dallas/Ft. Worth market with the help of leased tractors and maintenance from Ryder,” said Saddle Creek President, Mike DelBovo. “Because this is such a leading-edge technology, relationships like the one we have established with Ryder are critical to our success.”
The natural gas vehicles are being made available through Ryder’s participation in the Texas Natural Gas Vehicle Grant Program (TNGVGP), funded by the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) initiatives and administered by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
As an industry leader in natural gas vehicle solutions for the commercial transportation market, Ryder is able to leverage its knowledge of emerging fleet technologies and government rebates and tax incentive programs to help reduce CNG vehicle costs and offer competitive lease and rental rates. The company has deployed more than 320 CNG and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) vehicles into the fleets of approximately 40 Ryder customers in the U.S. Ryder recently opened its first Liquefied to Compressed Natural Gas fuel stations in Orange and Fontana, Ca.
With a Full Service Lease from Ryder, Ryder acquires vehicles according to a customer’s specifications, provides financing, maintenance and fleet support services, and then manages vehicle disposal to protect the customer from residual risk. Ryder also offers a “Flex-to-Green” lease which features the same benefits of a Full Service Lease, but with the added option to replace diesel powered vehicles with natural gas vehicles after one year.
For more information about how Ryder innovates for the environment, read our Corporate Sustainability Report.
