Raley's Pilots 'World's Cleanest Burning' Class 8 Diesel Trucks
Raley's Family of Fine Stores made a clean sweep of pollution in a pilot test of a new environmentally-friendly exhaust filtration system using a portion of the retailer's truck fleet.
For the pilot, the regional chain teamed up with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) and the Sacramento Emergency Clean Air and Transportation program (SECAT). The partners retrofitted 16 older delivery trucks with the exhaust-reducing filter system, and ran them for more than 1,000 hours as they hauled groceries to Raley's stores throughout Northern California.
"Raley's has a long history of working to reduce our impact on the environment, [and we are] the first retailer in California to employ this new filter system and operate the cleanest burning truck fleet in the world," said Bill Coyne, president and c.e.o. of Raley's, West Sacramento. "Our partnership with the Sacramento Air Quality Management District and the Sacramento Emergency Clean Air Transportation Program has been extremely productive and it will benefit a variety of industries and, most importantly, millions of consumers for years to come."
The point of the test was to demonstrate that retailers don't have to replace their older trucks to be compliant with the new air emissions standards. The exhaust filter system reduces smog-forming emissions by more than 80 percent, and virtually eliminates the diesel soot emissions that make the familiar black clouds of exhaust emitted from a truck's tailpipe. The project partners said the emissions from the filter were so clean that the chrome exhaust pipes on the tested truck fleet retained their shine throughout the testing period.
While Raley's fleet utilizes newer trucks that meet all current air emission requirements, the retailer provided 20 older trucks for the testing program and had each truck retrofitted with the new filtration system.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will run its own tests to verify the findings of the SMAQMD, and if the CARB testing results match the SMAQMD results, SMAQMD expects that CARB will adopt a new statewide regulation mandating these filters in all truck fleets in California.
Raley's operates 129 stores in Northern California and Nevada under four banners: Raley's Supermarkets, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods, and Food Source.
For the pilot, the regional chain teamed up with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (SMAQMD) and the Sacramento Emergency Clean Air and Transportation program (SECAT). The partners retrofitted 16 older delivery trucks with the exhaust-reducing filter system, and ran them for more than 1,000 hours as they hauled groceries to Raley's stores throughout Northern California.
"Raley's has a long history of working to reduce our impact on the environment, [and we are] the first retailer in California to employ this new filter system and operate the cleanest burning truck fleet in the world," said Bill Coyne, president and c.e.o. of Raley's, West Sacramento. "Our partnership with the Sacramento Air Quality Management District and the Sacramento Emergency Clean Air Transportation Program has been extremely productive and it will benefit a variety of industries and, most importantly, millions of consumers for years to come."
The point of the test was to demonstrate that retailers don't have to replace their older trucks to be compliant with the new air emissions standards. The exhaust filter system reduces smog-forming emissions by more than 80 percent, and virtually eliminates the diesel soot emissions that make the familiar black clouds of exhaust emitted from a truck's tailpipe. The project partners said the emissions from the filter were so clean that the chrome exhaust pipes on the tested truck fleet retained their shine throughout the testing period.
While Raley's fleet utilizes newer trucks that meet all current air emission requirements, the retailer provided 20 older trucks for the testing program and had each truck retrofitted with the new filtration system.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will run its own tests to verify the findings of the SMAQMD, and if the CARB testing results match the SMAQMD results, SMAQMD expects that CARB will adopt a new statewide regulation mandating these filters in all truck fleets in California.
Raley's operates 129 stores in Northern California and Nevada under four banners: Raley's Supermarkets, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods, and Food Source.