Estes Partners With Clean Energy To Expand Natural Gas Vehicle Fleet

Estes, the nation’s largest privately-owned freight transportation carrier, is acquiring the Class 8 natural gas trucks

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE), the leading provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America, announced that Estes Express Lines will add to its fleet 50 new trucks fueled with Redeem™ renewable natural gas (RNG), bringing its total to 71. 

Estes, the nation’s largest privately-owned freight transportation carrier, is acquiring the Class 8 natural gas trucks equipped with the Cummins Westport ultra-clean ISX12N engine for its California fleet, and is expected to use an approximate 2.8 million gallons of RNG over the seven-year contract. 

Clean Energy’s Redeem was the first commercially available RNG vehicle fuel, derived from capturing the biogenic methane produced by the decomposition of organic waste from dairies, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants. Redeem reduces climate-harming greenhouse gas emissions by at least 70%, and even up to 300% depending on the source of the RNG.

Estes purchased the trucks through Clean Energy’s Zero Now program, which brings the price of a natural gas truck at parity with a diesel truck, while offering a guaranteed fuel discount for the duration of the agreement. For Estes, this represents a geographical expansion of its current 21 ultra clean truck fleet currently operating out of Texas, and also fueled by Redeem.

“Switching to trucks fueled with ultra-low carbon fuel is vital to improving air quality and fighting climate change in the regions that we serve,” said Estes Chief Executive Officer and President, Rob Estes. “Clean Energy’s Zero Now program has enabled us to switch to cleaner fuel and engine technologies that make financial sense – so it’s a win on several levels.”

“By adding 50 clean, sustainable natural gas trucks to its fleet, Estes demonstrates their leadership in the drive to lower the carbon footprint by the heavy-duty trucking industry,” said Brett Lindsay, Vice President of Clean Energy. “With the support of our Zero Now program, Estes has been able to easily and quickly switch a growing number of their trucks to RNG, significantly decreasing the environmental impact of their operations.”

“Transitioning to natural gas has allowed Estes to set a new standard for the trucking industry on how to be operationally successful,” said Mike Palmer, Estes Vice President of Fleet Services. “The trucks are performing well.”

A fourth-generation company, Estes was established in 1931 and currently ranks among the nation’s top 10 national less-than-truckload carriers with 19,000 employees and a fleet of 7,000 tractors and 30,000 trailers. 

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