1. MARCH / APRIL 2015 I work truck 59
F
or more than 40 years, NPL Con-
struction Company has been a ma-
jor player in the natural gas pipe-
line industry. The industry has
changed during those years, and so, too,
has NPL. Since its inception, the compa-
ny has added electric, fiber, telecom, cable
TV, and other utilities to its lineup, offer-
ing a full line of distribution infrastructure
services in markets throughout the U.S.
With its rapid growth, NPL’s fleet is
comprised of more than 2,400 vehicles
nationwide, traveling more than 32 mil-
lion miles annually.
To put that into perspective, that is 60
miles a minute, every hour, every day of
the year.
Creating a Campaign
But, there is a price associated with all
those miles both in dollars at the pump
and in the impact emissions have on the
environment. While NPL must operate
vehicles to conduct business, one area the
company saw as an opportunity for im-
provement was reducing the amount of
fuel consumed when idling.
“Through the use of telematics we iden-
tified that our vehicles were consuming
an excessive amount of fuel while idling,”
said Chad Fay, NPL’s director of fleet op-
erations. “Recognizing and coaching this
behavior presents not only an opportuni-
ty for cost savings, but also an opportuni-
ty to reduce our impact on the environ-
ment, and increase vehicle life expectancy.”
Beginning April 2014, NPL and its fleet
management department, which includes
six regional fleet managers dispersed across
the nation and two fleet analysts, created
a grassroots, company-wide idle reduc-
tion campaign, setting a goal to reduce
and ultimately eliminate unproductive
engine idle time.
“The pathway to success in reaching
this goal was to raise awareness across
all our locations focusing on the impact
idling has on fuel spend, vehicle main-
tenance, and the environment,” said re-
gional fleet manager Bill Ursic, who was
appointed co-chairman of the campaign.
“All of our vehicles are equipped with
telematics, which makes it easy to track
unnecessary idling. Our department then
provides each company location with
monthly progress reports, newsletters,
and bi-weekly educational pieces (signs
and posters) to keep the awareness up
throughout the campaign.”
After six months, NPL has reduced its
CO2
footprint by 1,088,765 pounds and
calculated a fuel savings of more than
$187,298.
“The results have been fantastic,” add-
ed Neil Holladay, NPL’s Chicago-based
regional fleet manager, who has assisted
with managing the campaign. “Quite sim-
ply, the company goal is to eliminate un-
necessary vehicle idle time. The word is
out and our drivers are making it happen.
NPL’s ‘Culture of Personal Responsibili-
ty’ has been vital to our progress towards
reaching this goal, and we look forward to
building on our initial success.” WT
PHOTO:NPLConstruction
NPL Construction
Company Focuses on
Idle Reduction
Through idle-reduction, NPL Construction saved
more than $180,000 in fuel costs in six months.
Through a focus on reducing the fleet’s idling, the pipeline construction company
has reduced its CO2
footprint by more than 690,000 pounds in just six months.