Kenworth Receives Green Washington Award for Hybrids, LNG Trucks, Renton Plant

Wed November 04, 2009
Aggregate Equipment Guide

Kenworth Truck Company was honored with the 2009 Green Washington manufacturing award from Seattle Business magazine during a special awards banquet in Seattle.

Kenworth received recognition for its T270 and T370 diesel-electric hybrid trucks, T800 liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicles, and award-winning efforts by its manufacturing plant in Renton, Wash., to build trucks in an environmentally sustainable manner.

“Kenworth is pleased to receive the Green Washington manufacturing award in recognition of our extensive environmental efforts,” said Bill Kozek, Kenworth general manager and PACCAR vice president. “Kenworth continues to lead the trucking industry by providing practical technologies that help customers enhance fuel economy and reduce emissions. We now have over 500 hybrid and LNG trucks operating in the marketplace.”

Seattle Business magazine’s Second Annual Green Washington Awards recognized and honored top companies that have demonstrated their leadership, innovation and commitment to sustaining the environment through initiatives and actions that contribute to environmental sustainability in Washington state.

Earlier this year, Kenworth became the first truck manufacturer to receive the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Excellence award in recognition of its environmentally friendly products. The EPA also has acknowledged the aerodynamic, fuel-efficient Kenworth T660 and T2000 Class 8 models as EPA SmartWay program trucks.

Coca-Cola Enterprises operates 305 Kenworth T370 hybrids in the United States and Canada. King County and Dunn Lumber in the Seattle area are among customers with Kenworth hybrids and Kenworth T370 became the first medium duty hybrid truck in New York City’s truck fleet this past spring.

Kenworth’s goal for its hybrids is to enhance fuel economy by up to 30 percent in pickup and delivery applications and up to 50 percent in utility and service operations.

Kenworth was the first truck manufacturer to offer an LNG fuel system as a factory-installed option. Fleets serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach use Kenworth T800 LNG trucks to help reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and greenhouse gas emissions by up to an estimated 33 percent and 20 percent, respectively, compared to a diesel-fueled truck.

The Kenworth manufacturing plant in Renton, Wash., was honored this year by the King County Industrial Waste Program with a Commitment-to-Compliance Award for five consecutive years of outstanding compliance with the plant’s industrial wastewater discharge permit. The plant also received a 2009 Best Workplace for Recycling and Waste Reduction Award from King County’s Solid Waste Division. The awards reflect the plant’s comprehensive efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle. The Renton plant also received ISO (International Standards Organization) 14001:2004 certification for effective environmental management systems established to help build Class 8 trucks in an environmentally sustainable manner.

For more information, visit www.kenworth.com.

This story also appears on Truck and Trailer Guide.