Food Express Inc (FXI), with assistance from Southern California Gas (SoCalGas), recently added 11 new ultra-low emission natural gas trucks to its fleet.
SoCalGas helped FXI apply for $1.1 million in grant funding for the new trucks, which started making deliveries this week.
FXI, which transports flour and malt barley, among other commodities, has an additional 35 trucks on order.
“As the owner of a local business that’s been in my family for four generations, it is important that our company be part of the clean air solution,” said Kevin Keeney, vice president of Food Express, based in Arcadia CA.
“We’ve heard from many customers over the last few years about ways we can make our operation more environmentally-friendly. Our fleet travels about 7.5 million miles in California each year and the technological advancements of these new heavy-duty engines made our decision to switch to natural gas trucks an easy choice.”
Funding for the purchase came from the Prop 1B program administered by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District and the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Program (HVIP).
The purchase of 46 new trucks represents about 50 percent of FXI’s California fleet. The company is on the wait list for an additional $900,000 in Prop 1B grants from the San Diego Air Pollution Control District, which would be used to purchase another nine trucks. Replacing 55 diesel trucks with new ultra-low emission natural gas trucks is the equivalent of taking more than 3,100 passenger cars off the road, SoCalGas said.
“Over the last year, we’ve assisted SoCalGas customers with more than 400 applications for incentive funding to use for the trade in of existing diesel trucks for new natural gas ones,” said Yuri Freedman, senior director of business development for SoCalGas. “At a time when greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector are increasing, the move to clean technologies is vital if California is to achieve ambitious 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals and air quality goals.
“These new natural gas trucks represent the only solution commercially available and will have an immediate impact on air quality.”