ATD Selects Penske Truck Leasing to Pilot Electric Truck
American Tire Distributors (ATD), one of the largest independent suppliers of tires to the replacement tire market, today announced a collaboration with Penske Truck Leasing, a leading global transportation provider, to test electric trucks in the Southern California market. The partnership will consist of a three-month electric vehicle pilot at ATD’s Santa Fe Springs location.
ATD is the first tire distributor to pilot electric vehicles as part of its continued progress to reduce its carbon footprint. The company has also recently made investments in LED lighting and hosted a three-month eco-drive challenge for ATD drivers to improve their fuel efficiency. The electric truck pilot is designed to better understand how electric vehicle technology can best work in real-world operations, looking at applications and best use cases for moving the technology forward.
ATD’s focus on identifying opportunities and driving solutions to lessen environmental impact across the organization while delivering the highest levels of customer service, is testing the use of electric vehicles with the goal of adding electric trucks to its fleet and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2030. ATD will use the insights gained from the pilot to determine how to best build out the fleet of the future.
“We are excited to be working with Penske to pilot our first electric truck,” said Bill Hancock, senior vice president of supply chain operations at ATD. “The pilot will help us better support our overall alternative fuels strategy both inside our buildings and outside on the roads. This is an exciting step to continue to care for the environment and our customers and help transform our industry.”
ATD recently introduced the electric truck, the FUSO eCanter, to associates at the Santa Fe Springs location. The truck will begin delivering tires next month. The FUSO eCanter is an environmentally-friendly vehicle that is also cost-efficient and economical for its users. The all-electric light truck is designed to minimize noise pollution and help reverse the trend toward higher air pollution levels.
“Joining with our longtime customer ATD to help put an electric vehicle on the road is exciting and rewarding,” said Paul Rosa, senior vice president of procurement and fleet planning at Penske. “We strive to be at the forefront of commercial vehicle electrification for customers like ATD who are working to reduce their carbon footprint while continuing to effectively meet their own customers’ needs.”
For more information, visit www.atd-us.com.
About American Tire Distributors
American Tire Distributors is one of the largest independent suppliers of tires to the replacement tire market. It operates more than 140 distribution centers, including 25 distribution centers in Canada, serving approximately 80,000 customers across the U.S. and Canada. The company offers an unsurpassed breadth and depth of inventory, frequent delivery and value-added services to tire and automotive service customers. American Tire Distributors employs approximately 5,000 associates across its distribution center network, including approximately 800 associates in Canada.
About Penske Truck Leasing
Celebrating its 50th year in business, Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P., headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania, is a partnership of Penske Corporation, Penske Automotive Group and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. A leading global transportation services provider, Penske operates more than 326,000 vehicles and serves customers from more than 1,100 locations in North America, South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Product lines include full-service truck leasing, contract maintenance, commercial and consumer truck rentals, used truck sales, transportation and warehousing management and supply chain management solutions. Visit https://www.gopenske.com/ to learn more.
