Lowe’s has announced it has launched a dedicated fleet of natural gas-powered trucks at its regional distribution center in Mount Vernon, Texas.

With the transition from a diesel-fueled fleet to trucks powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), Lowe’s said it expects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions nearly 20 percent and control fuel costs as it transports up to 68 truckloads each day to stores in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma.

“The transition to an NG-powered fleet was a natural step for Lowe’s because of the economic and environmental benefits of natural gas,” said Steve Palmer, Lowe’s vice president of transportation. “Given the amount of natural gas that’s available domestically, broadly utilizing natural gas will give us an opportunity to better control our transportation fuel costs in the coming years. Our goal is to replace all of our diesel-powered dedicated fleets with natural gas trucks by the end of 2017.”

Lowe’s is working with its truckload carriers to convert their Lowe’s-dedicated fleets. The company began using natural gas trucks last year at its distribution center in Kissimmee, Fla., and teamed with longtime carrier partner NFI to launch the natural gas dedicated fleet in Texas.

Lowe’s worked with Clean Energy, the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America, to research the use of alternative fuels and accelerate the transition to natural gas. Clean Energy will support the NFI fleet by opening a natural gas station in Sulphur Springs, Texas. 

Encouraging its carriers to convert their dedicated fleets to natural gas underlines Lowe’s commitment to transport products responsibly and press for continuous improvement across the industry, according to the company.