Food distributor signs on to Ryder’s ‘Flex-to-Green’ lease

Ryder System, Inc. Monday announced it has signed a new Flex-to-Green Lease agreement for 10 diesel-powered refrigerated straight trucks with Pennsylvania-based food distributor Macaroni Company, Inc.

With a Flex-to-Green lease, Pennsylvania Macaroni receives all the maintenance and service benefits of a Ryder Full Service Lease with the added option to convert their vehicles to natural gas after one year.

Macaroni is a family-owned and operated Italian speciality food retailer that has distributed produce and grocery products in the city of Pittsburgh, Pa. for more than 110 years.

With an existing fleet of eight Ryder lease and six company-owned vehicles, Pennsylvania Macaroni will begin to take delivery of the new leased vehicles in the fall, replacing four of their company owned and six current Ryder leased vehicles.

Rob Sunseri, a partner in Macaroni Company, Inc., says the company was attracted to the possibility of making a conversion to green energy as a term of the lease.

“Working everyday with fresh Italian cheese, meats, and produce means delivery and service needs to be on time and reliable,” said Chief Financial Officer and Co-Owner of Pennsylvania Macaroni, Rob Sunseri. “We also feel a responsibility to the community to make our fleet as efficient and sustainable as possible.”

Pennsylvania Macaroni has been leasing trucks from Ryder during the past 12 years to supplement its existing private fleet of more than 14 vehicles.

Ryder has deployed more than 300 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) vehicles with approximately 40 Ryder customers in California, New York, Michigan, Arizona, and Louisiana. The company recently opened its first Liquefied to Compressed Natural Gas fuel stations in Orange and Fontana, Ca. For more information about how Ryder innovates for the environment, read Ryder’s Corporate Sustainability Report.