Wegmans Debuts Next-gen Sustainable Trucks

Wegmans Food Markets is rolling out a 101 new trucks that it said run cleaner and more efficiently, reducing emissions by 90 percent vs. Wegmans' previous generation of trucks.

Additionally, the grocer's strategies to slash fuel consumption, which include driver training, will save a projected 92,000 gallons of fuel savings yearly, it said. In addition to the 101 trucks, which are set to debut in early fall, 20 more will rev up before the end of the year.

Faced with the need to replace some vehicles in the wake of U.S. EPA's more stringent emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, Wegmans' transportation specialists went with the 15-liter ISX 500 horsepower diesel engine made at a Jamestown, N.Y.-based engine plant run by Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins, Inc., with a Volvo chassis manufactured in Virginia.

The new engines feature 10 gears to let the driver control the torque or pulling power of the truck across varying driving conditions, for the best combination of performance and fuel economy, the grocer said.

The first 101 trucks will make up almost 60 percent of the company's fleet. Wegmans said it aims to replace the rest of its older trucks with the new models by 2010.

Wegmans projected savings of 92,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually from the combination of more efficient engines, improved aerodynamic-design tractors, fuel-sparing driving strategies and route mapping, and additional fuel-savings features such as an automatic engine shutdown after five minutes of idling time.

Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans operates 71 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland.
X
This ad will auto-close in 10 seconds