A larger, more efficient fleet of commercial vehicles

Back in April, President Obama announced the National Clean Fleet Partnership to get major corporate fleets aligned in their commitment to reduce oil consumption. The original partners included AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo/Frito-Lay, UPS and Verizon. Five months later, the fleet has expanded to incorporate Coca-Cola, Enterprise Holdings, General Electric, Staples and more — collectively operating nearly one million commercial vehicles nationwide.

The companies have collectively committed to deploy more than 20,000 advanced technology vehicles in an effort to save more than 7 million gallons of fuel per year, resulting in improved fuel efficiency and cost-savings.

But the newcomers are hardly arriving late to the game.

Coca-Cola had previously established the largest hybrid delivery fleet in North America while Enterprise Holdings have expanded their rental car offerings to include Chevy Volts and Nissan Leafs. Staples has curbed its fleet’s oil consumption by more than 20 percent since 2007 — no small amount of energy savings.

We can expect these new partnerships to foster even greater energy savings, along with improved fuel economy technology, in the near future, and we congratulate the National Clean Fleet Partnership for embracing energy efficiency, reducing our dependency on foreign oil and spurring new innovation.