On August 18, 2008, FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX), formally dedicated its new Bronx station, bringing the shipping convenience of a World Service Center to local residents and continuing its leadership commitment to clean-vehicle technology development by placing 45 additional hybrid-electric delivery trucks at the facility.
Recent introduction of the ‘clean’ delivery trucks brings to 59 the number of FedEx hybrids that operate from the Bronx, accounting for 52 percent of the station’s fleet of vehicles. The station has the distinction of having the largest hybrid fleet of any FedEx facility, with New York the official home to the greatest number of FedEx hybrid trucks in the world.
New York City now has 93 of the more than 172 FedEx hybrid vehicles around the globe. The hybrid trucks improve fuel economy 42 percent, reduce greenhouse gas emissions approximately 30 percent and cut particulate pollution 96 percent.
FedEx opened the Bronx station in March, becoming the only overnight carrier in the area to feature a World Service Center, where residents have easy convenient access to the many shipping services FedEx provides. During the station’s construction FedEx representatives met with Bronx community leaders to provide information about the new facility and to answer questions.
The company announcement in April that it was expanding its global fleet of hybrid-electric trucks in the United States and Europe, including the placement of more hybrids in the Bronx, is a fruition of a pledge FedEx made to the community.
“We want to be a good neighbor and actively involved in the communities where we provide services,” Joe Gomez, a Bronx native and FedEx senior manager of the Harlem Yards Station, said. “Operating hybrids from this station since it opened and now adding a greater number of them to the fleet will make a positive difference.”
Gomez also said FedEx is contributing to community programs and initiatives in the Bronx, particularly to public schools and to local community parks, helping both children and the environment.
“I am very pleased to welcome the FedEx hybrid fleet to the Bronx,” said U.S. Congressman José E. Serrano. “I have long said that the goals of improving the economy and improving the environment do not have to work in opposition to each other. When FedEx announced plans to move to our district, I asked that the company maximize the use of clean fuel and hybrid technologies in its local delivery vehicles. As a result, many conventional diesel delivery trucks have been displaced by hybrid-electric vehicles—proof that economic development and good environmental policy are entirely compatible.”
Added Mitch Jackson, director of Environmental Affairs and Sustainability at FedEx, “The expansion of our hybrid fleet is the latest in our nearly decade-long journey with Environmental Defense Fund to create a new, affordable and cleaner standard of delivery truck. The FedEx goal from the start of this initiative was to be a catalyst for the development and use of hybrid-electric delivery vehicles across the industry.”
Jackson pointed to the continued need for collective leadership from suppliers, purchasers and government in making hybrids more cost competitive and FedEx and Environmental Defense Fund helping justify other recent hybrid-electric orders in the transportation industry. New York City and State have been instrumental in the growth of the hybrid truck market and an example for other localities on how to attract and grow greener business investments, he added.
The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and New York City Department of Transportation awarded funds to FedEx as part of the company’s continued development period.