Abbott to Participate in PHH GreenFleet; Hybrid Pilot Wraps Up This Year

17 January 2007

Abbott, one of the world’s leading health care companies, recently announced its participation in the PHH GreenFleet pilot program designed to improve vehicle efficiency and reduce fuel consumption among commercial fleets.

Reducing emissions from its vehicle fleet will help Abbott meet its corporate goal of reducing operational greenhouse gas emissions to 10% below its 2004 levels by 2010.

Abbott is the first company to sign on to this program which was developed jointly by PHH Arval and Environmental Defense to reduce pollution among the approximately nine million US vehicles registered to commercial vehicle fleets.

Fleet vehicles are driven an average of 25,000 miles per year—nearly double the mileage, fuel consumption, and corresponding emissions of personal vehicles.

The PHH GreenFleet program, introduced in July 2006, is designed to reduce fleet operating costs, decrease global warming pollution, and meet corporate environmental goals. Participation includes: in-depth analysis and recommendations to improve efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; quarterly measurement and reporting of emissions; and resources to offset remaining emissions.

As part of the PHH GreenFleet pilot program, Abbott established a greenhouse gas baseline and incorporated more efficient vehicles into the fleet. In order to encourage drivers to choose more environmentally friendly vehicles, Abbott offered upgrade incentives such as satellite radios and sunroofs and clearly communicated with drivers about the environmental impacts of their choices.

As a result, in the most recent fleet selection, 20% of drivers chose more fuel-efficient vehicles, improving the Abbott fleet’s average fuel economy, reducing average per vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing projected per vehicle operating costs.

In 2004, Abbott launched a three-year pilot program in the United States to test hybrids. Sixteen commercial sales representatives volunteered to test Toyota Prius vehicles. The company is gathering performance data on numerous parameters, including gas mileage, routine and demand maintenance, overall handling, road noise, ventilation systems, safety, space/capacity, and comfort.

Results are indicating that the Prius will save an estimated 7,600 gallons of fuel per year for the 16 vehicles in the study, with a related reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. In 2005, the company expanded the hybrid pilot program to include a sport utility vehicle in response to requests from our commercial employees for more cargo space. The program will be completed this year.

PHH Arval is a subsidiary of PHH Corporation and is the second-largest fleet management services provider in the United States and Canada combined.