AT&T Selects 'Green Fleet'...largest move to natural gas in Corporate America

Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T announced huge move to "green fuels". 

AT&T is going to replace 17 percent of its fleet - which is one of the largest in America - with vehicles running on natural gas and other renewable fuels. They are going to purchase 8,000 truck chassis built by an U.S. automaker and then they'll work with domestic suppliers to convert those chassis to run on natural gas.

A big portion of AT&T's fleet is going to domestic natural gas and is using vehicles built in America to do it. AT&T will also be working with natural gas suppliers - domestic natural gas suppliers - to build the fueling facilities they will need for these vehicles.

AT&T is also going to replace some 7,100 cars which are running on gasoline with cars using battery and other alternative sources. When this is done, AT&T will have one of the largest alternative fueled fleets in history.

An AT&T spokesman said: "Moving trucking and corporate fleets to natural gas, hybrid's, electric, and other alternatives will reduce AT&T's need for oil imports, clean our air, and provide less expensive fuel to Americans. With 89,000 vehicles at the pump -- I think we purchase somewhere between $200 to $300 million worth of fuel every year for those vehicles -- we consume about 80 million gallons. I'm here to tell you, when the price at the pump goes up one cent, it drives a whole lot of expense right to our bottom line. Having compressed natural gas vehicles out in your fleet that basically are typically somewhere around 35 percent or 40 percent lower costs at the pump than retail gasoline, is significant. You know, it's a significant opportunity. Having a fleet of hybrid vehicles that typically gives you somewhere between 30 to 40 percent fuel economy, mpg improvement, goes a long way in impacting your bottom line. I'll end where I started, and the answer to that is yes, we see this as being positive"