Telecommunications giant AT&T (T) helps approximately 300 million people around the globe stay connected 24/7, every single day of the year. In order to service such a vast amount of customers worldwide, AT & T utilizes extensive telecommunications networks and a large corporate fleet.
AT&T’s fleet is huge. The company operates approximately 78,000 fleets vehicles in total and is one of the largest private fleets in the US, according to Fleet Owner Magazine. There is a growing trend in the industry to operate an eco-friendly, green fleet and AT&T is leading the way.
AT&T’s corporate fleet is made up of vehicles that use compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of traditional petroleum or gas. On Friday April 1, 2011, AT&T announced that its use of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles in its corporate vehicle fleet helped the company avoid the purchase of more than one million gallons of fuel in 2010.
Reaching this milestone is a huge accomplishment but AT&T still has big plans for its corporate fleet. AT&T says the company intends to spend $565 million to create a more eco-friendly, green fleet. The company plans to purchase 8,000 CNG vehicles by 2013, and deploy 15,000 alternate fuel vehicles by 2018.
Besides reducing fuel costs and vehicle emissions, the CNG vehicles provide other benefits as well. According to the Center for Automotive Research, AT&T’s plans will save or create 1,000 jobs for manufacturers and suppliers associated with the purchase each year for five years. In addition, when combined with the conversion of the car fleet, a total reduction of 211,193 metric tons of CO2 over ten years will be realized, with 148,444 tons from the CNG vehicles alone. AT&T will also save 49.3 million gals. of fuel over the ten years.