Heavy Duty Trucking magazine is back this year with its annual list of the top Green truck fleets in the US, and as usual it's an interesting read.

The honorees are selected by Heavy Duty Trucking's editors. They look at on-line nominations as well as press releases and published stories. Considered are both a fleets’ long-term commitment to sustainability but new initiatives.

 
As usual, it's an eclectic mix. Eight of this year’s honorees are repeats from the 2018 list.

There is no attempt to rank the winners, but each carrier/fleet is given a short description of its efforts in Sustainability. You can find the full list here, but the 25 honorees for 2019 in alphabetical order are as follows:

• A. Duie Pyle (repeat from 2018)
• Anheuser Busch (repeat from 2018)
• Central Freight Lines
• City of Long Beach (repeat from 2018)
• City of Phoenix
• Contract Transport Services
• EVO Transportation & Energy Services
• FedEx
• Forest Preserve District of DuPage County
• Frito-Lay (repeat from 2018)
• Hazmat Environmental Group
• JB Hunt
• Navajo Express
• NFI (repeat from 2018)
• Old Dominion Freight Line
• Pitt Ohio (repeat from 2018)
• Prime Inc.
• Ruan
• Sharco Express
• System Freight Inc. (repeat from 2018)
• UPS (repeat from 2018)
• Veritable Vegetable
• Village of Arlington Heights
• Village of Oak Park
• Walmart (repeat from 2018)

Below, we highlight some of the more interesting actions some of these 25 fleets have taken in going Green.

Anheuser Busch is betting big on electric trucks, with a goal to convert its entire long-haul dedicated fleet to renewable power by 2025. It has ordered 800 of Nikola’s hydrogen-fuel-cell electric trucks and pre-ordered some Tesla electric trucks. Most recently it announced it will deploy 21 BYD battery-electric trucks in its California fleet as part of a state project to showcase sustainable warehousing and distribution technology.

Contract Transport Services has run 31 million miles with its CNG Fleet since 2013 and plans to replace its entire truck fleet with compressed natural gas by the end of 2019. The company has started construction of on-site CNG fast- and slow-fill stations. Last winter, when temperatures reached 50 below zero, using CNG enabled the fleet to continue delivering while most diesel fleets could not operate.

FedEx is well along the path to its goal of increasing vehicle fuel efficiency at its FedEx Express unit 50% from a 2005 baseline by 2025 by upgrading the vehicle fleet, using alternative fuels, and improved routing, automation, and driver monitoring. FedEx also is teaming up with Ryder to deploy 1,000 Change Energy medium-duty electric panel vans throughout California over the next two years.

Frito-Lay has long been at the forefront of alternative fuels adoption, with one of the largest Class 6 delivery fleets powered by electricity and nearly 50% of over-the-road tractors powered by natural gas. Frito-Lay is replacing all diesel equipment at its Modesto, California, facilities with15 Tesla battery-electric tractors, six Peterbilt 220EV battery-electric box trucks, three BYD 8Y battery-electric yard tractors, 12 Crown battery-electric forklifts, and 38 Volvo tractors with low-NOx engines powered by renewable natural gas.

NFI has a dedicated and drayage fleet of more than 4,000 vehicles, for which it operates electric trucks, near-zero-emissions CNG trucks, and electric yard tractors. It recently received its first battery-electric Freightliner eCascadia and will get electric Volvo trucks next year as part of the Volvo Lights program. Truck specs include low-rolling-resistance wide-based tires, battery-powered APUs, and aerodynamic options.

Pitt Ohio, which provides less-than-truckload, truckload, and supply chain solutions, operates nearly 1,300 of its more than 1,400 trucks on biodiesel and 31 on compressed natural gas. A solar- and wind-powered microgrid at its Harmar, Pennsylvania, facility stores energy for use during night-time operations and has reduced electricity taken from the grid by more than 25%. Pitt Ohio is opening its second facility with a microgrid in 2019 in Parma, Ohio, with more than 1,500 solar panels and eight wind turbines.

UPS wants to cut emissions 12% across its global ground operations by 2025, sourcing 40% of fuel from sources other than conventional gasoline/diesel. Some of its latest projects include the largest purchase ever of renewable natural gas in the U.S., collaborating with Xos (formerly Thor Trucks) to test a fully electric Class 6 delivery truck in Los Angeles, collaborating with Workhorse Group to design a fleet of Class 5 electric delivery trucks from the ground up, and reserving 125 Tesla electric Semi tractors.

Veritable Vegetable is an organic produce distributor that has Sustainability deeply ingrained in its operations, and that extends to its 34 vehicles. It has adopted trailer side skirts, aerodynamic wheel covers, idle shutdown technology, and fuel-efficient tires with automatic tire inflation. Over half the fleet runs on renewable diesel. It is exploring solar power to extend the functionality of its electric APUs and a partnership to test electric trucks. Its facilities are equipped with a 560-panel solar array that offsets over 25% of its energy use.

Lots of interesting Green activity by carriers and fleets for sure.

What did you find interesting in these actions by top Green fleets? Let us know your thoughts at the Feedback button below.