AT&T Fleet Strategy Includes Widespread Deployment of Cleaner Vehicles

AT&T operates a fleet of more than 77,000 vehicles including passenger cars, vans, and utility trucks. Recognizing the economic and environmental implications of maintaining so many vehicles, we set out to find cleaner, more efficient methods of powering our fleet.

Our goal: Develop a long-term strategy to insulate our exposure to volatile gas prices and decrease our dependence on imported oil, while also reducing the environmental impacts on the communities we serve.

In developing our strategy, we recognized four important factors: 1) Unlike many large corporate fleets, AT&T doesn’t have large centralized fleet depots, and many of our vehicles travel only short distances. 2) U.S manufacturers do not yet commercially produce alternative fuel models for many of the types of service vehicles required in our fleet. 3) Lack of transportation infrastructure impacts our ability to deploy certain types of vehicles, such as compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. 4) Increasing the efficiency of our existing vehicles should complement our deployment of alternative-fuel vehicles.

Recognizing the importance of selecting the right vehicle mix, AT&T launched an alternative fuel vehicle trial in 2007 with the deployment of four electric hybrid passenger cars. We then rolled out an additional 105 alternative fuel vehicles in 2008, including CNG vans, electric hybrid passenger cars, and electric hybrid conversion work trucks.

The trial allowed us to observe vehicle performance in various weather conditions and traffic patterns, and we assessed the maintenance and service required.

At the same time, we strengthened efforts to increase fuel savings and decrease emissions of our existing vehicles, such as implementing an idling-reduction policy and utilizing GPS technology in our technician vehicles.

Through the successful pilot program, we learned a mix of solutions is right for our fleet. Multiple technologies can reduce our operating costs over time while effectively reducing our fuel consumption and impact on the environment.

With these learnings, we were able to take our alternative fuel commitment to the next level. In March 2009, we announced plans to invest up to $565 million as part of a long-term strategy to deploy more than 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles over a 10 year period.

This includes a plan to replace about 8,000 gasoline powered service vehicles with vehicles powered by domestically available CNG. This represents the largest U.S. corporate commitment to CNG vehicles to date. We will also replace an estimated 7,100 passenger cars with alternative-fuel models.

The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) estimates the new vehicles will save 49 million gallons of gasoline and reduce carbon emissions by 211,000 metric tons over the 10 year deployment period. That is equivalent to removing the emissions from more than 38,600 traditional passenger vehicles for a year. Additionally, CAR estimates that the AT&T fleet initiative will create or save – on average – approximately 1,000 jobs per year over the first five years of the initiative.

As a company, we continue to explore new forms of cleaner, more efficient transportation. In January 2010, for example, AT&T deployed its first all-electric truck, the Smith Newton. A month later, we announced the deployment of our 1,000th alternative fuel vehicle. As 2010 progresses, we look forward to expanding the range of CNG vehicle types in our fleet, and we plan to deploy additional battery electric vehicles.

We know the size of our fleet commitment has the potential to signal market demand for more fuel efficient vehicles. To that end, we will continue working with policy makers and stakeholders to accelerate the development of transportation infrastructure required to support greater use of fuel efficient vehicles.

Jerome Webber is Vice President of Fleet Operations at AT&T, www.att.com/sustainability