Oct. 31, 2007 Nike and its affiliate company, Converse, have announced plans to switch a "significant portion" of their Los Angeles harbor trucking fleet from diesel to new liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled vehicles.

Nike estimates the new LNG trucks will emit 18% less CO2, 88% less NOx, and 96% less particulate matter per mile compared to their diesel vehicles.

"Nike and our affiliate companies are committed to a 30% absolute CO2 reduction for inbound logistics by 2020," says John Isbell, Nike's director of corporate logistics services. "To do so will take an accumulation of many efforts just like this one in which we can take advantage of an environmentally preferred alternative."

Nike recently joined the Coalition for Responsible Transportation (CRT), a group that promotes use of cleaner truck technologies in port communities. Through CRT, Nike teamed up with Southern Counties Express, a local trucking firm, to meet about 50% of its port-related trucking needs in the Los Angeles/Long Beach area. Southern Counties Express says will be taking delivery on more than 70 new LNG-fueled trucks in the next two months.

Brian Griley, CEO of Southern Counties Express, says he expects to begin putting the new LNG trucks into service in mid-December. "I'm very confident the market, especially when they see companies like Nike leading, will respond very positively to this transportation option."

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the ports of entry for a substantial portion of the footwear, apparel and equipment which Nike and Converse import from the Asia Pacific region. While a portion of those goods move directly via train from the ports to Nike distribution centers in Tennessee, many are trucked directly to local distribution centers. It is a portion of those hauls totaling about 285,000 miles a year which will be converted to LNG trucks.