FairPoint Saves Big With Anti-Idling Policy

FairPoint Communications has cut emissions and fuel use in the past year from efforts to curb idling in its fleet of work vehicles. FairPoint partnered with the American Lung Association to hold presentations at company garages on the benefits of reducing idling. Those discussions spurred renewed interest in reducing the amount of time trucks idle.

For example, FairPoint saw its total idling time drop more than 42 percent from the first four months of 2011 as compared to same months this year. FairPoint operates 1,232 fleet trucks across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. FairPoint has made a concerted effort across northern New England to reduce idling; it's the right thing to do for public health and to be a more energy-efficient company, said Karen Mead, senior vice president of operations and engineering. This is a significant step toward reducing our carbon footprint in the region.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Center for Transportation Research at the University of Chicago, idling of service utility trucks can account for up to 37 percent of total fuel used. This is a great effort by FairPoint, said Wayne Michaud, director of Idle-Free VT and former coordinator of the American Lung Association's Vermont Idle-Free Fleets program. Less fuel used means better air quality and better health, particularly for children and the elderly. And, of course, this type of reduction really helps reduce the company's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. About FairPoint Communications, Inc.

FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NasdaqCM: FRP) is a communications provider of broadband Internet access, local and long-distance phone, television and other high-capacity data services to customers in communities across 18 states. Through its fiber network, FairPoint delivers data and voice to residential, business and wholesale customers. Additional information about FairPoint is available at www.FairPoint.com.