Developed in conjunction with CALSTART, a national non-profit clean transportation organisation, the programme is being designed for two purposes: to encourage and make it easy for fleets to take the first steps, while also setting a strong framework to reward those fleets already taking real action.

‘The importance of sustainable practices becomes more evident each day,’ said NAFA president Claude T Masters. ‘By becoming more energy independent and efficient our members will extend benefits to their bottom line and their customer base.’

The programme will allow member organisations to assess how to enhance their practices in a way that decreases their fuel dependence and emissions, while increasing the efficiency of their vehicles, improving performance, and reducing harmful pollutants, thereby also offering the potential to reduce costs.

The programme will be complementary to existing federal programmes, but is intended to set a standard by which fleets can assess their progress.

‘NAFA’s central role in the fleet industry will help this programme create a tipping point for sustainable transportation,’ said John Boesel, president and CEO of CALSTART. ‘We’re working with NAFA to make sure the standard is strong, but easy to use by any fleet, whether just starting out or far down the road on sustainable operations.’