From Guest Blogger Melissa Page: Testa Uses Green Delivery Fleet

The people of Testa Produce, Inc. have started to do what they can to reduce their company’s carbon footprint. For example, two of the delivery trucks that they purchased this year are all-electric vehicles, but they don’t plan to stop there. They also have plans to purchase 10 more trucks that use compressed natural gas (CNG), and CNG is a cleaner fuel that costs less than gasoline or diesel.  

Socially Responsible Food Transportation

The company currently uses trucks that run on biodiesel fuel to transport food products, but executives recently made the commitment to pursue socially responsible food transportation methods. That’s why they are purchasing the 10 new CNG trucks to replace their current fleet. After all, the company does have a lofty goal: Testa Produce, Inc. hopes to be a company that no longer uses foreign oil within the next five years.

The new CNG trucks have several advantages. They are not as loud as biodiesel trucks, and they emit fewer harmful substances into the air. CNG trucks are much easier to maintain, but their highway performance does not suffer because of it. Most importantly, it’s cheaper to run CNG trucks. A biodiesel truck requires that the company spend between $4.30 and $4.89 plus tax per gallon of fuel, but they will only need to spend $2.60 per gallon for their CNG trucks.

The Commitment to Sustainable Food Transportation

Testa’s executives’ commitment to sustainable food transportation made it necessary for them to continue their efforts by purchasing new CNG vehicles. They started down this path by becoming the first produce distributor in the country to have a distribution center certified as LEED platinum. This certification is the highest that the company could possibly earn from the U.S. Green Building Council. Further showing that they are pioneers in becoming “green,” Testa’s executives became one of the first to trade in their delivery trucks for biodiesel vehicles as well as purchase hybrids as their company’s official cars.

According to Peter Testa, president of Testa Produce, Inc., he and his partners are constantly in search of new ways to reduce the company’s carbon footprint, and they are eager to begin delivering their goods with their new environmentally-friendly trucks. They are very interested to prove a company that depends on trucks can commit to this type of sustainability.

The executives received one of their new CNG trucks in June of this year, and they should take possession of the rest of the fleet in coming months.

About the author

Melissa Page writes about farm fresh produce, conscious capitalism and sustainable food habits. Inspired by  A to Z Solutions, she dreams of a more sustainable world, and believes that nutritional transparency is a big step towards that goal.