Estes Partners with Clean Energy to Expand Natural Gas Vehicle Fleet

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (CLNE), the leading provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America, announced that Estes Express Lines will add to its fleet 50 new trucks fueled with Redeem™ renewable natural gas (RNG), bringing its total to 71.

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Estes Express Lines has partnered with Clean Energy to add 50 near clean trucks to its fleet. (Photo: Business Wire)

Estes, the nation’s largest privately-owned freight transportation carrier, is acquiring the Class 8 natural gas trucks equipped with the Cummins Westport ultra-clean ISX12N engine for its California fleet, and is expected to use an approximate 2.8 million gallons of RNG over the seven-year contract.

Clean Energy’s Redeem was the first commercially available RNG vehicle fuel, derived from capturing the biogenic methane produced by the decomposition of organic waste from dairies, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants. Redeem reduces climate-harming greenhouse gas emissions by at least 70%, and even up to 300% depending on the source of the RNG.

Estes purchased the trucks through Clean Energy’s Zero Now program, which brings the price of a natural gas truck at parity with a diesel truck, while offering a guaranteed fuel discount for the duration of the agreement. For Estes, this represents a geographical expansion of its current 21 ultra clean truck fleet currently operating out of Texas, and also fueled by Redeem.

“Switching to trucks fueled with ultra-low carbon fuel is vital to improving air quality and fighting climate change in the regions that we serve,” said Estes Chief Executive Officer and President, Rob Estes. “Clean Energy’s Zero Now program has enabled us to switch to cleaner fuel and engine technologies that make financial sense – so it’s a win on several levels.”

“By adding 50 clean, sustainable natural gas trucks to its fleet, Estes demonstrates their leadership in the drive to lower the carbon footprint by the heavy-duty trucking industry,” said Brett Lindsay, Vice President of Clean Energy. “With the support of our Zero Now program, Estes has been able to easily and quickly switch a growing number of their trucks to RNG, significantly decreasing the environmental impact of their operations.”

“Transitioning to natural gas has allowed Estes to set a new standard for the trucking industry on how to be operationally successful,” said Mike Palmer, Estes Vice President of Fleet Services. “The trucks are performing well.”

A fourth-generation company, Estes was established in 1931 and currently ranks among the nation’s top 10 national less-than-truckload carriers with 19,000 employees and a fleet of 7,000 tractors and 30,000 trailers.

About Clean Energy

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is North America’s leading provider of the cleanest fuel for the transportation market. Through its sales of Redeem™ renewable natural gas (RNG), which is derived from capturing biogenic methane produced from decomposing organic waste, Clean Energy allows thousands of vehicle fleets, from airport shuttles to city buses to waste and heavy-duty trucks, to reduce their amount of climate-harming greenhouse gas by at least 70% and even up to 300% depending on the source of the RNG. Clean Energy can deliver Redeem through compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquified natural gas (LNG) to its network of approximately 540 fueling stations across the U.S. and Canada. Clean Energy builds and operates CNG and LNG fueling stations for the transportation market, owns natural gas liquefication facilities in California and Texas, and transports bulk CNG and LNG to non-transportation customers around the U.S. For more information, visit www.CleanEnergyFuels.com.

About Estes Express Lines

Estes is the largest, privately-owned freight carrier in North America. As an asset-based transportation and custom-logistics solutions provider, Estes delivers responsive freight solutions across a vast regional, national, international, and global footprint. The Richmond, VA-based, fourth-generation company has nearly 90 years of freight shipping expertise and has worked through the decades to build a robust transportation network, a reputation for financial stability, and an award-winning safety record. Estes offers comprehensive freight shipping solutions, including Less Than Truckload (LTL), Volume LTL, Truckload, Time Critical, and Final Mile.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including without limitation statements about amounts of RNG expected to be consumed and the benefits of RNG. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless otherwise required by law, Clean Energy undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Additionally, the reports and other documents Clean Energy files with the SEC (available at www.sec.gov) contain risk factors, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200909005087/en/

Clean Energy Contact:
Raleigh Gerber
949-437-1397
raleigh.gerber@cleanenergyfuels.com

Investor Contact:
investors@cleanenergyfuels.com

Source: Clean Energy Fuels Corp.

Released September 9, 2020