COMMERCE, CA – Unified Western Grocers, Inc. was awarded a $1 million grant from the California Air Resources Board to begin equipping its fleet of more than 400 tractor-trailers with state-of-the-art pollution control equipment. Nationally, Unified is the single largest company to deploy this technology.
The grant will be used to install a new filter-like device called a "particulate trap" to 141 of the company's tractors. The 141 tractors represent the company's newest tractors (1995 to present). To date, technology for pre-1995 equipment has not been approved. When combined with a new blend of diesel fuel that has an ultra low sulfur content, the particulate traps significantly reduce the amount of soot and particulate matter that are released into the air via the tractor's exhaust system.
Once installed on Unified's tractors, the new pollution control system is expected to reduce toxic emissions and eliminate approximately two tons of soot from the atmosphere per year. In addition to the tractors equipped with the particulate traps, Unified has committed to using the cleaner-burning low-sulfur diesel fuel in its entire California fleet.
Because Unified is one of the first private companies in the State of California to implement this technology, the Company was able to qualify for the grant, which is designed to jump-start the voluntary program in Southern California. The grant will cover the purchase and installation of equipment for 141 vehicles. In return, Unified has agreed to maintain the equipment for the next five years. Installation will begin in October and will be completed by the end of this calendar year.
"We felt it was important to be an early participant in this program," said Steve Stein, director, environmental health and safety. "We want to be responsive to the communities we serve by doing our part to improve the quality of the air all of us breathe. This program will enable us to achieve that goal faster and more efficiently than any other pollution control option available to us."
Although it was approved for use in California only last October, the particulate trap has been used extensively on trucks and other vehicles in Europe for the last 10 years.
Unified Western Grocers, Inc. is a retailer-owned grocery distributor that supplies independent retailers throughout the Western United States. Unified and its subsidiaries, which generated approximately $3 billion in sales during the 2001 fiscal year, offer independent retailers all the resources they need to compete in the supermarket industry.
