October 29, 2007
(Los Angeles, CA) -- Nike, Inc. and its affiliate company Converse are to switch a significant portion of their Los Angeles area harbor drayage fleet from diesel to new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fueled vehicles. The "green fleet" announcement was made in conjunction with news that Nike has joined the Coalition for Responsible Transportation (CRT), a group advocating for policies and public/private partnerships that encourage the use of cleaner truck and alternative fuel technologies in port communities.
Nike estimates the new LNG trucks will emit 18 percent less CO2, 88 percent less NOx and 96 percent less particulate matter per mile when compared to their diesel counterparts. Nike, utilizing a public-private partnership model recently developed by CRT, has teamed up with Southern Counties Express, a local trucking firm, to meet approximately 50 percent of its por-related trucking needs in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area. Southern Counties Express will be taking delivery on more than 70 new LNG-fueled trucks in the next two months. The trucks were purchased in part with financial aid from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the Air Quality Management District (AQMD).
The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the ports of entry for a substantial portion of the footwear, apparel and equipment which Nike and Converse import from the Asia Pacific region. While a portion of those goods move directly via train from the ports to Nike distribution centers in Tennessee, many are trucked directly to local distribution centers in Inland Empire and Torrance. It is a portion of those hauls - totaling approximately 285,000 miles a year -- which will be converted to LNG trucks.
Courtesy of NGV Global, www.ngvglobal.com.