Following complaints from residents of its delivery areas, online grocery company FreshDirect LLC has reached an agreement with the New York state attorney general’s office to adopt a program designed to eliminate all non-essential idling by its fleet of delivery trucks. It will also pay a $50,000 fine for violating state and city environmental laws that restrict the length of time trucks are permitted to sit with their engines running.
The agreement covers the parent company, its online grocery service, FreshDirect.com, and its trucking unit, U.T.F. Trucking Inc.
“I commend FreshDirect for working with my office to establish an innovative anti-idling program,” says New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. “It is time for other companies with fleets of vehicles to follow FreshDirect’s lead and prevent the wasteful and unnecessary pollution caused by idling.”
FreshDirect did not immediately return a call for comment.
Cuomo adds that FreshDirect’s anti-idling program set a new standard for reducing truck-generated air pollution. The retailer, No. 58 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, will install electronic controls on its entire fleet of about 100 delivery trucks to make them automatically turn off after three minutes of idling. It will also equip all new vehicles it buys with the same controls.
FreshDirect has also agreed to implement a new program within two months to train employees on how to carry out the new anti-idling program, including random monitoring to ensure compliance.
The agreement follows an investigation by Cuomo’s office that documented at least 30 instances of illegal truck idling in multiple areas of New York City. New York state law restricts truck idling to a maximum five minutes, while the city restricts it to three minutes generally and to one minute in areas near schools.
The state issued FreshDirect a fine of $120,000, but suspended $70,000 contingent on the retailer’s compliance with the agreement.
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