Ryder System, Inc., a provider of commercial transportation and supply chain management services, is taking delivery of 39 light and medium duty compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. They include 20 Greenkraft cab-over vehicles with 6.0-liter GM natural gas engines and 19 Navistar International TranStar trucks with Cummins Westport ISL G engines.
The CNG trucks range in gross vehicle weight from 16,000 to 33,000 pounds and are available for lease or rent from Ryder in California. The new light and medium duty natural gas vehicles are suited to metro/city delivery applications. Unlike heavy duty natural gas vehicles, which require fueling stations designed to accommodate large commercial tractor-trailers, these lighter vehicles can access much of the existing retail CNG fueling infrastructure.
These initial 39 vehicles will be maintained at Ryder’s natural gas compliant California maintenance facilities in Orange, Fontana, Rancho Dominguez and West Sacramento, but these vehicle configurations are now available as part of Ryder’s offerings in all markets where Ryder services natural gas vehicles.
Funding for the incremental cost of the vehicles was provided by the California Energy Commission and the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC). Ryder says these grants enable it to make the cost of renting or leasing CNG vehicles more comparable to traditional diesel trucks.