At Poland Spring, decreasing emissions makes good business sense and is good for the environment

This is a guest post from Chris McKenna, fleet manager at Poland Spring.

Shortly after I became manager of Poland Spring’s truck fleet in 2007, we transitioned our fleet of 36 tractor-trailers and 75 tanker trailers from conventional diesel fuel to B5, a non-food grade biodiesel.  The switch reflected Poland Spring’s on-going commitment to lightening our environmental footprint and successfully reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by about 1.8 million pounds annually.  An added benefit was a decrease in fuel costs by about nine cents per gallon, a savings that became increasingly significant as fuel prices climbed to around $5 per gallon in 2008.

Since then, we have continued to seek new ways to reduce our carbon footprint and improve the fuel economy of our truck fleet, even as fuel prices stabilized. In 2008, we challenged our drivers to cut back the amount of time their trucks sat idling. The response was amazing. Our drivers lowered idling rates by 70%, from 1,400 hours in February 2007 to just 380 hours in February 2009. Even with that accomplishment, we continue to find ways to further reduce idling.  Year-to-date our fleet has only a 3.6% idle time rate, surpassing our goal of 5% in 2009. Cutting idling time has reduced our fleet’s fuel consumption by 8,000 gallons and greenhouse gas emissions by about 77 tons per year.

Idling reduction is only one of the ways Poland Spring has worked to curb greenhouse gas emissions.  Our drivers reduced their top highway speeds by two miles per hour, from 66 mph to 64 mph, and we are in the process of mapping optimum routes and mileage to increase the efficiency of our transport team.   The combination of these efforts could mean an additional 1.95 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions spared and almost $50,000 in savings to the company this year. Read more in this case study on how Poland Spring has reduced its fleet emissions [PDF].

Decreasing our fleet’s emissions is a win-win. Not only does it make good business sense because we’re reducing our fuel consumption and lowering our costs, it also makes good environmental sense. These efforts, along with our other environmental initiatives, would not be possible without the commitment of our nearly 800 full-time and seasonal Maine employees.  We’re all working to make the state we have proudly called home for over 160 years a better place to live and work.

For more tips and best practices to improve vehicle use, visit EDF’s Fuel-Smart Driving Practices Module.

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