SEAL BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In increasing numbers, major U.S. contract freight carriers are deploying heavy-duty natural gas-powered trucks to support their customers’ supply chain transport requirements. Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE), North America’s leading supplier of natural gas fuel for transportation, contracts with carrier fleet operators to provide compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling services at Clean Energy public access stations nationwide.
Among the most recent for-hire fleet operators to opt for natural gas fuel are Premier Transportation, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia; Transplace, Frisco, Texas, and Glacier Transportation & Logistics, Atlanta, Georgia; Dillon Transportation LLC, Burr Ridge, Illinois; C.R. England, Salt Lake City, Utah; Ryder Dedicated Logistics, El Segundo, California; CEVA Logistics, Hoofddorp, the Netherlands; and Werner Enterprises, Omaha, Nebraska.
James Harger, Chief Marketing Officer, Clean Energy, said, “Like Premier, Transplace, Glacier, Dillon, C.R. England, Ryder, CEVA and Werner, truck fleet operators across the country are turning to natural gas power. They seek fuel cost savings, reduced foreign oil dependence, and the environmental benefits of this abundant American resource. Clean Energy commends these companies, and many others like them, for their visionary leadership in the retail and customer products transportation sector.”
Premier Transportation
Premier Transportation is a nationwide provider of transportation and logistics solutions to the retail department stores and consumer products industries. Premier’s CNG trucks will initially be deployed in major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. Premier will fuel exclusively at Clean Energy facilities and it is expected that each truck will consume over 15,000 gallons per year.
Transplace and Glacier Transportation & Logistics
Third-party logistics leader Transplace and Sunny Delight Beverages Co. have partnered with Glacier Transportation and Clean Energy to deploy a new CNG-powered truck fleet. The five-year agreement will transport products such as Sunny Delight and Fruit2O beverages to customers across the Southern California market. Glacier expects the transition from diesel power to CNG fuel for its fleet operations will result in substantially less greenhouse gas emissions and reduced fuel costs.
Transplace has been Sunny Delight’s 3PL (third-party logistics) provider since 2006. Transplace Director of Operations, Clint Dearing, said, “Both Clean Energy and Glacier Transportation have proven to be outstanding partners as we worked together through implementing the CNG fleet with Sunny Delight. Transplace used our expertise to give Sunny Delight value added services through contract negotiations, transportation management, and carrier coordination.”
Dillon Transportation LLC
Dillon’s temperature-sensitive tanker truck fleets operate throughout the U.S. and Canada, with contract services concentrated east of the Rocky Mountains. Dillon LNG-powered trucks now deliver raw materials to Owens Corning industrial production plants in Texas and Ohio. Owens Corning is a leading global producer of residential and commercial building materials, fiberglass reinforcements and engineered materials for composite systems. Dillon’s operations are averaging nearly 250,000 miles per truck per year — consuming over 40,000 gallons per truck in both Ohio and Texas. Dillon is now evaluating LNG trucks for its operations in Florida and Georgia. Dillon fuels its fleet exclusively in Clean Energy’s American Natural Gas Highway™ LNG station network.
C.R. England
One of America’s largest contract freight carriers, C.R. England, has deployed a new fleet of Peterbilt LNG trucks to transport products out of Southern California to the Las Vegas area. The trucks feature 15-liter Cummins-Westport LNG engine systems and fuel in Clean Energy’s Southwest Corridor of LNG fueling stations. C.R. England operates a fleet of 4,000 trucks and consumes over 70 million gallons of fuel per year.
Ryder Dedicated Logistics
Ryder provides product transportation services for Fresh & Easy, a growing Western U.S. chain of retail grocery stores. Fresh & Easy is a subsidiary of Tesco, which is among the world's leading retailers. Ryder operates a regional fleet of CNG tractors for Fresh & Easy’s Moreno Valley distribution center. The fleet is expected to consume more than 400,000 gallons of CNG fuel annually.
CEVA Logistics
A global logistics company involved in freight management, contract logistics, distribution, and transportation management, CEVA uses its new fleet of LNG trucks to transport American Honda parts from the Honda distribution center in Ontario, Calif., to dealerships and independent companies throughout Greater Los Angeles.
Werner Enterprises
An early adopter of natural gas vehicles, Werner is deploying both CNG and LNG trucks in the Los Angeles area. Werner is the nation’s 11th largest for-hire carrier, operating over 7,000 tractors in dry van, reefer TL, flatbed, expedited, dedicated contract carriage, and across-the-border services. The combined fleet consumes well over 100 million gallons annually.
Currently priced up to $1.50 or more per gallon lower than diesel or gasoline (depending upon local markets), the use of natural gas fuel reduces costs significantly for vehicle and fleet owners, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions up to 23% in medium to heavy-duty vehicles. Additionally, natural gas is a secure North American energy source with 98% of the natural gas consumed produced in the U.S. and Canada.
Clean Energy (Nasdaq: CLNE) is the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America and a global leader in the expanding natural gas vehicle fueling market. We have operations in compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicle fueling, construction and operation of natural gas fueling stations, compressor equipment and technology, biomethane production, and vehicle conversions. We fuel over 530 fleet customers and 25,000 vehicles at more than 273 strategic locations across the country, with a broad customer base in the refuse, transit, trucking, shuttle, taxi, airport and municipal fleet markets.
We are building America’s Natural Gas Highway™, a network comprised initially of 150 planned LNG truck fueling stations connecting major freight trucking corridors across the country.
IMW Industries, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary, is a global supplier of compressed natural gas equipment for vehicle fueling and industrial applications with more than 1,200 installations in 25 countries. NorthStar, a wholly owned subsidiary, is the recognized leader in LNG/LCNG (liquefied to compressed natural gas) fueling system technologies and equipment, station construction, and operations. It has built 70% of the LNG fueling stations in the United States. BAF Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, is a leading provider of natural gas vehicle systems and conversions for taxis, vans, pick-up trucks and shuttle buses. It has converted more than 15,000 vehicles. Clean Energy Renewable Fuels (CERF), a wholly owned subsidiary, is developing renewable natural gas (RNG), or biomethane, production facilities in the United States. CERF owns (70%) and operates a landfill gas facility in Dallas, Texas, that produces RNG for delivery in the nation’s gas pipeline network for power generation and transportation fuel. CERF is building a second facility in Canton, Michigan. We own and operate LNG production plants in Willis, Texas, and Boron, California, with combined capacity of 260,000 LNG gallons per day, and that are designed to expand to 340,000 LNG gallons per day as demand increases. For more information, visit www.cleanenergyfuels.com.
Forward-Looking Statements — This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including statements about procurement and deployment of natural gas vehicles, volumes of natural gas that will be consumed by trucks, the benefits of natural gas relative to diesel fuel, and expectations about the future adoption of natural gas as a vehicle fuel. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including, but not limited to, the performance, availability and benefits of natural gas trucks relative to gasoline and diesel trucks, and the price per gallon of natural gas fuel relative to diesel and gasoline. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless otherwise required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Additionally, the reports and other documents the Company files with the SEC (available at www.sec.gov) contain risk factors, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.