Fleet Advantage, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., delivered its proprietary data-driven lifecycle management initiative to Tony’s Fine Foods, helping the West Sacramento, Calif.-based company meet California Air Resources Board (CARB) laws, experience fuel average improvements and optimize approximately $1 million in savings over the projected lifecycle of the new equipment.

CARB compliance
Fleet Advantage provided Tony’s with a comprehensive strategy for reducing fleet ownership costs, anchored by proprietary Big Data services, allowing the company to achieve the Lowest Cost of Ownership (LCO) with the added benefit of complying with CARB laws. The CARB regulations apply to nearly all diesel-fueled trucks and buses weighing more than 14,000 pounds that are privately or federally owned, with the goal of significantly reducing particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen emissions from existing diesel vehicles operating in California.

Clean diesel
In the past year, Tony’s replaced roughly 80% of its fleet with new equipment. The new tractors are powered by clean diesel technology, allowing for improved miles per gallon and reduced maintenance and repair cost. As an added bonus, the flexibility of Fleet Advantage’s leasing system will allow Tony’s to comply with future regulations in the trucking industry, and also allowed the company to dispose of trucks that were no longer compliant with CARB laws.

Environmental impact
“Making a positive impact on the environment and our balance sheet at the same time is an extraordinary achievement for us,” says Ron Selders, vice president of operations for Tony’s Fine Foods. “The switch to clean diesel is a natural choice. The gain in efficiency allows us to focus more on growing our business while letting the experts handle the analytics to help us achieve our lowest cost of ownership and improve our bottom line.”

“Tony’s has made a strong commitment to green technology, which is evident in the sizable solar project they have at their headquarters—one of the largest privately owned solar electrical generation plants in the state of California,” says John Flynn, chief executive officer of Fleet Advantage. “Investing in clean diesel technology was a logical next step for their company. Every client has unique needs, and Tony’s needed useful and accurate information in order to meet sustainability goals and the lowest cost of ownership, and we were proud to be their partner in achieving both goals.”