The San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) Board has chosen Ryder System to partner with it on a heavy-duty natural gas truck rental and leasing project in Southern California
. Ryder will use $19.3 million in state and federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding secured by SANBAG to implement the project.

As part of the project, Ryder will purchase more than 200 heavy-duty natural gas powered trucks, including both liquefied and compressed natural gas. These trucks will be deployed into Ryder's Southern California operations network, where Ryder's customers will be able to access them through short-term rentals, long-term leases, or through Ryder's dedicated logistics services.

To support these trucks, Ryder will construct new natural gas refueling stations within the region and work with its customers to identify and use the existing natural gas refueling infrastructure already located in the area. The company will maintain the vehicles at its maintenance shops in Orange, Rancho Dominguez, and Rancho Cucamonga. Each maintenance facility will be properly equipped for the indoor repair of natural gas vehicles.

"Our intent is to use this project as a model that we can replicate in other parts of the U.S. where Ryder has a strong presence," said Tony Tegnelia, president of Global Fleet Management Solutions for Ryder.

When fully implemented, this project is expected to replace more than 1.51 million gallons of diesel use annually. Based on estimates using California's Carl Moyer program guidelines, the project is also estimated to reduce more than 9.2 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions per year, more than 131 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions annually and eliminate 2.65 tons of diesel particulate emissions from local neighborhoods.