Anheuser-Busch Distributor Will Add 23 Natural Gas Vehicles to
Delivery Fleet
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Ryder
System, Inc. (NYSE:R), a leader in commercial transportation and
supply chain management solutions, today announced that Eagle
Distributing of Shreveport, Inc., has signed a full-service lease
agreement for 23 compressed natural gas (CNG) tractors. Eagle is an
Anheuser-Busch distributor in northwestern Louisiana and Ryder’s first
natural gas lease customer in Louisiana. The CNG tractors will replace
nearly all of Eagle’s existing diesel-powered delivery fleet. With natural
gas vehicles available for lease and rental in markets in
California, Arizona, and Michigan, Ryder now adds Shreveport, La., as
its newest market with a natural gas vehicle offering. Ryder will also
provide maintenance for the 23 CNG vehicles from Ryder’s Shreveport
service facility, which is being upgraded for compliance with natural
gas standards.
The CNG vehicles are part of a strategic initiative by Eagle to reduce
its carbon footprint and control fuel costs. “By changing out these 23
vehicles, Eagle will cut its greenhouse gas emissions from its current
878 tons down to 670 tons, which will be a reduction of 24%,” said
Doug
Jones
, Operations Manager for Eagle. “We are also changing out smaller
fleet vehicles to CNG. We are committed and will continue to change out
more vehicles this year and in the years to come until all our vehicles
are converted to CNG,” he added.
“As a socially responsible company, we wanted to look at our fleet
options not only from a cost perspective, but also as a good neighbor to
our customers and the communities we serve,” said
Brad Nichols
,
President of Eagle. “These advanced technology compressed natural gas
vehicles work as well as their diesel counterparts and produce fewer
greenhouse gas emissions. With the availability and planned growth of
natural gas fueling infrastructure in our service area in Louisiana, we
believe CNG vehicles will continue to gain momentum as an
environmentally beneficial and cost-competitive alternative.”
Ryder’s leased vehicles will be used to make deliveries throughout
Eagle’s service territory of nine parishes in Northwest Louisiana. Eagle
is also currently exploring plans to build a natural gas fueling station
near its headquarters in Shreveport.
Eagle was founded in June 1992 by
Robert and Pam Nichols
as a
family-owned and locally operated company. The company is a wholesale
distributor of beer, wine, liquor and non-alcohol products with a
territory covering the parishes of Caddo, Claiborne, Bienville, Bossier,
Desoto, Natchitoches, Red River, Webster, and Winn. Eagle distributes
the famous Anheuser-Busch InBev brands that include the Budweiser,
Michelob, Busch, and Natural brand families of beers, as well as a
number of other import, craft, and non-alcohol products.
“Over the last several years, we’ve seen an increasing number of
companies not only seek alternatives to reduce and control fuel costs,
but also to help them control their carbon output and meet their
environmental objectives,” said
Dennis Cooke
, President of Fleet
Management Solutions at Ryder. “We pride ourselves on listening to the
needs of the marketplace and developing the solutions that will help
drive the industry forward.”
About Eagle Distributing of Shreveport, Inc.
Eagle Distributing of Shreveport, Inc. was founded in June 1992 by
Robert and Pam Nichols
as a family-owned and locally operated company.
Eagle is a wholesale distributor of beer, wine, liquor and non-alcohol
products in Northwest Louisiana and its territory covers the nine
parishes of Caddo, Claiborne, Bienville, Bossier, Desoto, Natchitoches,
Red River, Webster, and Winn. Eagle distributes the famous
Anheuser-Busch InBev brands that include the Budweiser, Michelob, Busch,
and Natural brand families of beers. Eagle also distributes many import
and craft brands, such as Stella Artois, Beck’s, Corona, Modelo, Abita,
and New Belgium, to name a few. Non-alcohol products Eagle carries
include
Red Bull
, Nestle Nesquik & Waters, Nesteas, EAS Myoplex, Taste
of Florida Mixers and much more. Eagle employs over 150 people and
services over 1,200 retail accounts.
About Ryder
Ryder is a FORTUNE 500® commercial transportation, logistics and supply
chain management solutions company. Ryder’s stock (NYSE:R) is a
component of the Dow Jones Transportation Average and the Standard &
Poor’s 500 Index. Inbound Logistics magazine has recognized Ryder
as a top third party logistics provider and green supply chain partner.
Ryder has also been ranked three years in a row as one of the top 250
U.S. companies in the Newsweek Green Rankings. In addition, Security
Magazine has named Ryder one of the top companies for security practices
in the transportation, logistics, supply chain, and warehousing sector.
Ryder is a proud member of the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving
Program, supporting national and local disaster preparedness and
response efforts. For more information, visit www.ryder.com
and follow us on Facebook,
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and Twitter.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements
and information included in this news release are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Federal Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements are based on our current plans and expectations and are
subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Accordingly,
these forward-looking statements should be evaluated with consideration
given to the many risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results and events to differ materially from those in the
forward-looking statements including those risks set forth in our
periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. New
risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for management
to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risks
on our business. Accordingly, we undertake no obligation to
publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Source: Ryder System, Inc.