Northeast Distributor Will Add 15 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 Willow Run
Foods, Inc. (Willow Run Foods) has signed a
Ryder Full Service Lease
agreement for 15 heavy duty compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. The
63-year-old customized food distributor for regional and national chains
throughout the northeast United States is Ryder’s first natural gas
lease customer in New York. This natural gas vehicle project is expected
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 500 tons annually and expected to
save Willow Run Foods more than $100,000 annually through a reduction of
175,000 gallons of diesel fuel consumption.
“With several years of experience operating and maintaining natural gas
vehicles, we are in a unique position to help businesses leverage our
expertise by making alternative fuel vehicles available through our
lease and rental arrangements,” said Ryder President of Global Fleet
Management Solutions,
Dennis Cooke
. “We’ve seen great interest from our
customers who want to take advantage of the environmental and cost
benefits of natural gas vehicles. They know that partnering with Ryder
is a low risk way to get started quickly and without a large capital
investment.”
Willow Run Foods will take delivery of the 15 natural gas vehicles in
October to replace 15 diesel-powered vehicles in their existing fleet.
The 15 CNG vehicles will be used to make deliveries to several chain
restaurants in New York City, Long Island and northern New Jersey. The
natural gas vehicles were made available through funding assistance
provided by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
(NYSERDA) as part of the Willow Run Foods clean-energy project. Ryder
and Willow Run Foods are working together to upgrade the customer’s
existing On-Site maintenance facility to meet the unique requirements
for servicing natural gas vehicles. The Ryder On-Site Fleet Maintenance
solution brings Ryder’s state-of-the-art maintenance technology and
expertise right to the customer’s location and gives all of the
advantages of Ryder’s professionally managed vehicle maintenance with
ease, convenience, and reliability.
“We are very excited to be leading the trucking industry by being the
first company to use CNG trucks for regional deliveries in the
Northeast, and so are our customers,” said
Terry Wood
, President and CEO
of Willow Run Foods. “Along with our truck leasing and maintenance
partner, Ryder, we are looking forward to a long and rewarding
relationship with CNG trucks.”
Through a Full Service Lease, Ryder acquires vehicles according to the
customer’s specifications, provides financing, maintenance and fleet
support services, and then manages vehicle disposal to protect customers
from residual risk. Ryder also offers a Flex-to-Green Lease agreement on
traditional diesel trucks to its customers, which features the same
benefits of a Full Service Lease but with the added option to replace
the diesel powered vehicles with natural gas vehicles after one year.
Ryder has deployed more than 300 CNG and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
vehicles with approximately 40 Ryder customers in California, Michigan,
Arizona, and Louisiana. With this deal, Ryder now adds New York as its
newest market with a natural gas vehicle offering. Ryder recently opened
its first Liquefied to Compressed Natural Gas fuel stations in Orange
and Fontana, Ca. For more information about how Ryder innovates for the
environment, read its Corporate
Sustainability Report.
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 included Ryder in its
“Green Partners” listing for five years in a row, and Newsweek has
included Ryder for three years in a row in its ranking of the top 500
green U.S. companies. Ryder is a charter member of the NGV Fleet Forum
and a member of the Department of Energy’s National Clean Fleets
partnership. Ryder is also a recipient of the 2011 NGV Achievement Award
and has been recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in the
Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index. A member of the American Red Cross
Annual Disaster Giving Program, Ryder is proud to support national and
local disaster preparedness and response efforts. For more information,
visit www.ryder.com
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About Willow Run Foods, Inc.
Willow Run Foods, Inc. is a distribution, logistics and food storage
company located in Kirkwood, New York specializing in customized food
distribution for regional and national chains throughout the Northeast.
Willow Run Foods, Inc. has more than 350 employees in New York State.
About NYSERDA
NYSERDA, a public benefit corporation, offers objective information and
analysis, innovative programs, technical expertise and funding to help
New Yorkers increase energy efficiency, save money, use renewable
energy, and reduce their reliance on fossil fuels. NYSERDA professionals
work to protect our environment and create clean-energy jobs. NYSERDA
has been developing partnerships to advance innovative energy solutions
in New York since 1975.
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.