PORTLAND, OR - Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) announced delivery of its first fleet of U.S. EPA 2010 trucks to Meijer, an EPA SmartWay award-winning supercenter retailer headquartered in Grand Rapids, Mich. Meijer placed one of the nation's first 2010 fleet orders, purchasing 75 EPA 2010 Freightliner Cascadia trucks equipped with Detroit Diesel DD13 engines and BlueTec emissions technology.  

When compared to an average EPA 2007 truck and over an average vehicle lifetime of one million miles, the new, clean emissions 2010 Freightliner Cascadia with the DD13 engine and BlueTec will:

• Reduce fuel consumption by nearly 11,500 gallons of diesel fuel per truck

• Reduce fleet fuel costs by nearly $30,000 per truck

• Reduce CO2 emissions by 124 U.S. tons per truck

• Reduce NOx emissions to near-zero - eliminating approximately seven U.S. tons per truck

As a fleet of trucks, Meijer's investment in environmentally-friendly 2010-compliant trucks will actually save the company money, reducing fuel consumption by more than 800,000 gallons of diesel fuel and reducing fuel costs by more than $2 million over the lifetime of the fleet as compared to deploying less advanced technology. Thanks to their fuel efficiency, this same Cascadia fleet will reduce CO2 by 9,300 U.S. tons while virtually eliminating 525 U.S. tons of smog-creating NOx from the air.

Meijer operates 191 stores throughout the Midwest. In addition to being an early adopter of the 2010 emissions control technologies, Meijer is known for innovative approaches and implementation of a variety of green initiatives such as the installation of rooftop wind turbines on a number of its stores. In October 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay Transportation Partnership awarded Meijer its Environmental Excellence Award for leadership in conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from its transportation and freight activities. The replacement of older Meijer fleet trucks with 2010 Freightliner trucks with Detroit Diesel engines and BlueTec emissions systems is a continuation of Meijer's green initiatives.