WASHINGTON – Six companies have signed onto the Obama Administration’s National Clean Fleets Partnership, according to a news release, which means each company will work with the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop strategies to reduce gasoline and diesel use in their fleets.

The following companies have joined the effort and are focusing on the following fuel-saving initiatives:

Coca-Cola, which the DOE said has the largest hybrid delivery fleet in North America, has deployed hybrid delivery trucks and trained drivers in eco-driving techniques.  The DOE said the company also expects to deploy additional hydraulic hybrid vehicles this year.

Enterprise Holdings, which includes Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo Car Rent A Car, National Car Rental, and WeCar, currently offers Chevrolet Volts and Nissan Leafs to consumers for rentals and expects to expand its fleet, according to DOE.

General Electric has committed to converting half of its global vehicle fleet and will partner with fleet customers to deploy a total of 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015, DOE stated.

Ryder celebrated the opening of its first natural gas vehicle maintenance facility, which will deploy hundreds of heavy-duty liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks, include two LNG fueling stations and two additional maintenance facilities. This project is expected to save 1.5 million gallons of diesel fuel per year, according to DOE.

Staples has increased the fuel economy of its fleet by more than 20 percent since 2007 through fuel-saving steps such as automatically limiting truck idling to no more than 3 minutes and limiting the top speed of its vehicles to 60 miles an hour. The company is also in the process of testing all-electric delivery trucks in Ohio and California.

Osram Sylvania aims to replace 10-12 percent of its fleet annually with more energy-efficient vehicles. This year, DOE said the company will replace more than one-fifth of its utility trucks with more efficient ones that reduce the need for idling.

In addition to the members announced above, the National Clean Fleets Partnership includes charter members AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo/Frito-Lay, UPS, and Verizon. The partnership is part of DOE’s Vehicle Technology Program's Clean Cities initiative.

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