Skip to main content

All-electric delivery trucks hit the streets of Columbus

Frito-Lay North America division, the US$13 billion convenient foods business unit of PepsiCo, has started rolling out some of its fully electric delivery trucks in Columbus.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
3488 Frito-Lay North America division, the US$13 billion convenient foods business unit of 3493 PepsiCo, has started rolling out some of its fully electric delivery trucks in Columbus. The first 10 trucks which are going into service will ultimately be part of the largest planned fleet of commercial all-electric trucks in North America.  This year, Columbus is one of three cities in the US, along with New York City and Ft. Worth, Texas, to deploy the vehicles with plans to roll out an additional 155 trucks in 2011.

Once the planned 176 electric trucks are deployed, Frito-Lay will eliminate the need for 500,000 gallons of fuel annually. Each truck emits 75 per cent less greenhouse gases than a conventional diesel truck.

"The electric vehicle programme builds on a long-standing commitment by Frito-Lay North America and its parent company PepsiCo to environmental sustainability," said Mike O'Connell, director of fleet for Frito Lay North America. "With the seventh largest privately owned fleet in the US, we have set a goal of becoming the most fuel efficient fleet in the country, and these vehicles give us an opportunity to use the latest advances in transportation technology as a significant way to reduce our environmental impact."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Jeddah juggles transport needs of residents, pilgrims and tourists
    December 22, 2015
    Mass pilgrimages, new tourists and a growing population lead Jeddah to seek some smart transport solutions as David Crawford finds out. Rationalising traffic movement and public transport in a major Middle Eastern business and tourist centre that is also a gateway for millions of religious pilgrims every year is the challenge for the 20-year Jeddah Strategic Plan and the Jeddah Public Transport Programme (JPTP) it spawned. The latter is costed at US$8bn.
  • App informs drivers of delays during Long Beach bridge replacement
    June 6, 2014
    David Crawford previews a work zone travel breakthrough. In February 2014, the Port of Long Beach in California launched what it claims is a groundbreaking construction zone navigation aid - LB Bridge mobile app. The app is designed to help drivers during the Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement programme by keeping them up to date on activity and the ensuing traffic diversions when construction starts in summer 2014. The unusually content-rich app is designed to convey current project news (enlivened by phot
  • Countering congestion’s cost
    May 6, 2015
    A new report on the economic costs of traffic congestion predicts the problem will worsen significantly in future. Jon Masters reviews the figures and some suggested solutions. New figures on the rising economic and environmental costs of congestion have been published by the US traffic data specialist Inrix and the UK’s Centre for Economics & Business Research (Cebr). Their report finds the problem much bigger than previously thought.
  • Investment and innovation the future of ITS
    January 31, 2012
    Cisco's Paul Brubaker, former administrator of the US Department of Transportation's (USDOT's) Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA), takes a look at how the ITS sector is starting to attract the attention of major corporations and what this will mean for intelligent transportation in the coming years