With some federal stimulus package funds sprinkled in for good measure, two national heavy-duty truck fleet operators, a local government association and a leading natural gas transportation fueling infrastructure company have announced plans to add 426 new compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) heavy-duty vehicles in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest in two separate agreements.

The San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) announced last Wednesday it will apply $19.3 million in state and federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds to an agreement with Florida-based vehicle rental firm Ryder System Inc. in which Ryder will start a first-of-its-kind heavy-duty natural gas truck rental and leasing project in Southern California in cities that are part of SANBAG about 50 miles east of Los Angeles.

Separately, Phoenix-based Republic Services, a national waste hauling and disposal firm, committed to purchasing 226 natural gas heavy-duty waste hauling trucks for its operations mostly in Southern California, along with the Bellevue-Kent, WA, and Boise, ID areas in the Pacific Northwest. Seal Beach, CA-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. will build the fueling infrastructure for Republic. The waste company said this will push its alternative fuel vehicles to more than 459.

Republic has committed to make 20% of its 2010 new truck orders natural gas-powered vehicles, and it will begin deploying them later in April, according to Jeff Andrews, senior vice president for Republic’s west region. The trucks eventually will be part of Republic Allied Waste divisions in six Southern California cities (Anaheim, Chula Vista, Gardena, Long Beach, Pacheco and Sun Valley) along with the three cities in Washington state and Idaho.

Of the 226 added vehicles, 173 will be CNG-powered and 53 will use LNG, Republic said.

Ryder also will added both CNG- and LNG-powered heavy-duty vehicles. “These ultra low-emission trucks will be deployed into Ryder’s Southern California operations network where Ryder’s commercial customers will be able to access them through short-term rentals, long-term leases, or through dedicated logistics services,” a SANBAG spokesperson said.

Ryder will construct new natural gas refueling stations within the region and work with its customers to identify and use what is considered an extensive CNG/LNG refueling infrastructure already in place in Southern California, much of it developed by Clean Energy.

SANBAG said major funding was secured from ARRA ($10 million) through the U.S. Department of Energy’s alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles pilot program, and the California Energy Commission’s alternative and renewable fuel and vehicle and technology program ($9.3 million).

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