Benjamin Moore has inaugurated use of three new Ryder tractor-trailer trucks that run on compressed natural gas (CNG). Exclusively servicing Southern California, these additions to the company’s fleet emit 25 percent less greenhouse gases than other vehicles.

The tractors have been made available through Ryder’s natural gas vehicle project agreement with the San Bernardino Associated Governments in Southern California. The $38.7 million joint project is part of a public/private partnership between the transportation solutions company, the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Energy Commission and the Southern California Association of Governments Clean Cities Coalition.

“Benjamin Moore’s commitment to sustainability pervades every department in the company, and this opportunity to ensure cleaner air reinforces our Green Promise in a way most people don’t think about—shipping our eco-responsible paint products in one of the most eco-responsible ways possible,” said Mike Woods, director of logistics, woods, credits Benjamin Moore’s regional logistics manager Ron Widner with spearheading the program in which dozens of other major companies are now involved.

“It was a chance to get in on the ground floor of a transportation and environmental innovation that’s only going to grow here in California and then across the U.S.,” said Widner. He explained that many major metro areas now have passenger buses and even sanitation trucks that run on natural gas, so though the energy source is rather new to trucking, it’s been proven very safe and reliable. Currently, California has about 70 fueling stations for CNG tractors; there are another 30 stations located throughout North America and that number is slated to grow steadily as the required equipment becomes available.