With more than140 fleets from across North America nominated among eight categories, the annual ACT Expo Fleet Awards were announced at North America’s largest clean fleet event.
Long Beach, Calif. — Organizers of the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, North America’s largest advanced transportation technology and clean fleet event, announced the winners of its 2022 ACT Expo Fleet Awards on May 10 and 11 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Southern California.
The ACT Expo Fleet Awards are the ultimate recognition of fleets and individuals who show true leadership in sustainable transportation — having shown a demonstrated commitment and success to using cleaner technologies to lower emissions from their fleet operations, and to increasing their use of domestically produced low carbon fuels. A diverse set of organizations from across North America were honored in multiple award categories, including:
- Leading School Fleet: Twin Rivers Unified School District | The Twin Rivers Unified School District in McClellan Park, CA has been one of the most progressive and visible school bus fleet operators moving to battery-electric technology, with 40 zero emission buses already in operation. This is in addition to the 37 natural gas buses in its fleet. In recognition of its efforts to choose a path toward clean transportation for the benefit of its students and communities, the Twin Rivers USD was presented with the 2022 ACT Expo Leading School Fleet award.
- Leading Public Fleet: County of Sacramento | Since opening their first RNG (Renewable Natural Gas) fueling station in 2015, the County has rapidly scaled its alternative fuels operation. Starting out with 100 natural gas vehicles six years ago, in 2021 62% of all fuel consumed by the 2,500-plus vehicle fleet was alternative or renewable. The County of Sacramento continues to show leadership deploying advanced vehicle technology at breakneck speed, including RNG, battery-electric, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. With its diverse fleet and accelerated scaling of clean fuel technologies, the County of Sacramento is the winner of the 2022 ACT Expo Leading Public Fleet award.
- Leading Private Fleet: Southern California Gas Company | Southern California Gas has long been one of the most progressive utilities in transitioning to natural gas service trucks, having started to use natural gas as a vehicle fuel more than 40 years ago. The company now has more than 1,000 fleet vehicles being fueled by renewable natural gas (RNG) and has recently started to deploy dozens of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as the launching point for a continued transition to hydrogen fuel in the future. The utility will replace 50% of its over-the-road fleet with clean fuel vehicles by 2025 and will operate a 100% zero-emission fleet by 2035. For its long-term leadership and continued investment, Southern California Gas Company is the winner of the 2022 ACT Expo Leading Private Fleet award.
- Transit and Mobility Award: Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) | OCTA was one of the very first transit operators to switch to natural gas approximately 20 years ago. Today its nearly 500 CNG buses run on 100% renewable natural gas, while the transit agency is working to incorporate 100 battery-electric buses into its fleet. It also operates the largest hydrogen fueling station in the country to support a growing fleet of fuel cell electric buses. OCTA is a long-time sustainable transportation leader and this year’s ACT Expo Transit and Mobility award winner.
- Leading Off-Road Fleet: SSA Marine | SSA Marine, the world’s largest independent, privately held marine terminal operator, operates a wide range of hybrid-electric and battery-electric container handling equipment in its Oakland and Long Beach facilities, and will soon demonstrate a hydrogen fuel cell powered rubber-tired gantry crane (RTG). Additionally, SSA has converted all liquid fuel use in its Long Beach terminal to a blend of renewable diesel and biodiesel. With its ongoing commitment to innovation and clean fuels and technologies, SSA Marine is this year’s ACT Expo Leading Off-Road Fleet award winner.
- Leading Airport Fleet: Denver International Airport | In spite of operating a remarkably diverse fleet of on-road and off-road vehicles to meet the daily needs of one of the world’s largest airports, Denver International Airport has been able to already convert 25% of its 800-plus vehicle fleet to clean fuels such as CNG, battery-electric, and propane autogas. DEN now operates 95 CNG, 85 electric & 17 propane autogas vehicles in its fleet. For its ingenuity in alternative fuel implementation, Denver International Airport is this year’s ACT Expo Leading Airport Fleet award winner.
- Leading Carrier: Dependable Highway Express (DHE) | DHE has continued to lead in zero-emission freight transport with growing investments at its Ontario, California distribution facility including: two battery-electric tractors, 10 battery-electric box trucks, and 14 electric forklifts. To power its fleet of electric vehicles and its Ontario building, DHE has installed more than 2,300 solar panels that generate 1.29 GWh of renewable electricity annually. For leading the way, Dependable Highway Express (DHE) is the 2022 Act Expo Leading Carrier winner.
- In It for the Long-Haul Award: Schwan’s | Schwan’s Home Delivery operates more than 2,200 of its 3,000 trucks on propane autogas. It has been using propane to fuel its clean fleet deliveries since the 1970s, making it not only one of the longest-running alternative fuel vehicle users in history, but one of the most visible and recognized commercial fleets using clean fuel technology. For its long-term commitment and use of propane delivery trucks, Schwan’s is this year’s ACT Expo In It for the Long-Haul Award winner.
The list of award winners can be viewed on the ACT Expo site.
“The annual ACT Expo Fleet Awards are such a great showcase of the hard work and dedication being put in by so many of our nation’s most progressive and sustainable fleets, and a fantastic way to recognize these leaders and the important work they are doing to drive the market for clean fuels and technology forward,” said Erik Neandross, CEO at Gladstein, Neandross & Associates (GNA), a clean transportation firm and energy consulting firm and the host of ACT Expo. “We had a record-breaking number of submissions this year and it was difficult to choose just one winner per category given the impressive initiatives we saw from each nominee.”
In addition to the Fleet Awards, ACT Expo also features dozens of product debuts and major industry announcements, exemplifying the transportation industry’s accelerating shift to low and zero emissions. The event highlights advanced vehicles spanning all weight classes, applications, and fuel types, including battery-electric, hydrogen fuel cell, propane autogas, and natural gas vehicles, along with autonomous and connected technologies and renewable fuels. Hundreds of clean commercial vehicles and fueling products will be on display in the expo hall, and in the two-day Ride & Drive. Participants are the first to learn about the major market trends and clean vehicle adoption plans of fleets across North America with the onsite launch of the 2022 State of Sustainable Fleets report.
For more information about ACT Expo, visit www.actexpo.com.
About the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo
ACT Expo is North America’s largest conference and expo showcasing real-world application of the latest transportation technologies, drivetrains, and clean fuels. ACT Expo combines the best educational content in the industry with an innovative trade show floor showcasing the most innovative technologies on the market today. This year’s conference took place May 9 to 12, 2022, in Long Beach, California and will return May 1 to 4, 2023 in Anaheim, CA. ACT Expo brings together thousands of attendees from across the advanced vehicle and alternative fuels industries. The annual event is produced by Gladstein, Neandross & Associates (GNA), the leading North American consulting firm specializing in market development for low- and zero-emission transportation technologies, infrastructure, and ultra-low carbon fuels for commercial transportation. Learn more at www.actexpo.com and www.gladstein.org.
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