TruGreen, the nation's largest lawn care services provider, on November 4 announced that it has been using a microGreen Extended Performance Oil Filter on vehicles in Florida. The company is in the beginning stages of a pilot program that is expected to continue to through March 2010 and is seeing promising preliminary results. The project is expected to reduce maintenance costs while reducing the company's impact on the environment.
As part of the pilot, TruGreen is participating in a microGreen Fleet Adoption Program sponsored by SOMS Technologies LLC, a provider of engine oil filtration products. SOMS's program allows eligible fleets to use the microGreen filter on all of their vehicles and receive free oil analysis to monitor the performance of the filter. The microGreen oil filter utilizes an advanced, patented technology that enables vehicles to operate up to 30,000 miles without an oil change. The microGreen oil filter has two filters in one standard spin-on canister, which ensures that the oil stays cleaner far longer. The microGreen technology saves fleets 65 percent on their maintenance costs while reducing the use of oil by 70 percent and oil filters by 50 percent. This saves money while significantly decreasing the potential for improper disposal of these hazardous wastes and helps protect the environment.
"Testing and implementing technologies that can help us reduce our impact on the environment is very important to us. If those technologies also provide an economic benefit to our company, everyone wins," said Michael St. Clair, vice president of fleet operations for ServiceMaster.
With more than 15,000 vehicles, ServiceMaster, TruGreen's parent company, operates the 10th-largest commercial fleet in the United States. ServiceMaster currently serves residential and commercial customers through a network of more than 5,500 company-owned locations and franchised licenses. The company's brands include TruGreen, TruGreen LandCare, Terminix, American Home Shield, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, Furniture Medic and AmeriSpec. The core services of the company include lawn care and landscape maintenance, termite and pest control, home warranties, cleaning and disaster restoration, house cleaning, furniture repair and home inspection.
"We are extremely pleased to be able to work with ServiceMaster to help them achieve their maintenance costs and environmental objectives," said Steven Kirchner, chief operating officer of SOMS Technologies. "Our Fleet Adoption Program allows fleets to experience the benefits of the microGreen filter and ensure the performance of the filter with independent oil analysis. We are excited to provide an innovative solution which offers tremendous cost savings, while making a significantly positive impact on our environment."
"The SOMS pilot program is part of our commitment to developing responsible lawn care practices," said Steve Donly, president of TruGreen. "The significant reduction in oil use is just one example of our passionate pursuit of sustainable business practices."
Another TruGreen initiative aimed at helping the company to reach its environmental sustainability goals is the company's development of lighter-weight, more fuel-efficient route trucks that use electric-powered pumping systems designed to reduce fuel consumption.
