AT&T adds more alternative-fuel vehicles to service fleet

Those of you who complain about AT&T's telecommunications coverage may be interested to know that at least the company is trying to do its part when it comes to greening the fleet that goes out to resolve your gripes.

The telecommunications company reports that it is adding what it describes as a first-of-its-kind, medium-duty truck to its alternative-fuel fleet. The converted Ford F-450 trucks will use compressed natural gas to raise workers up to telephone poles. A hybrid-electric system will be used to power the aerial device itself. "This specialized vehicle is the first of its kind in the country," says Jerome Webber, vice president of AT&T Global Fleet Operations, in the press release announcing the deployment.

Companies contributing to the development of this particular technology include Altec Industries, Azure Dynamics, and BAF, a  Clean Energy Company.

AT&T committed to spending $565 million on alternative vehicles over 10 years in order to put about 15,000 of them into service. So far, it has put about 1,600 of them on the roads in California, which is about two-thirds of the vehicles it has deployed nationwide. Those vehicles are diverting about 3,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, according to AT&T.

For perspective, this is a drop in the bucket, when you consider that AT&T has more than 75,900 vehicles in its fleet globally. But I guess rollovers or rollouts like this take time. In fact, it looks like t

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com