Company Adds 31 Compressed Natural Gas Tractors from Ryder to its
Texas and Louisiana Delivery Fleet
MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Ryder
System, Inc. (NYSE: R), 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.
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
and follow us on Facebook,
YouTube,
and Twitter.
About Saddle Creek Logistics Services
Saddle Creek is a third-party logistics company providing warehousing,
transportation, packaging and fulfillment services. We leverage our
broad array of capabilities to deliver integrated solutions that support
our customers’ business objectives. For more information, visit
sclogistics.com.
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.