Atlanta Courier Company Goes Green
Marc Pickard reports
Reported by: Marc Pickard WXIA TV
Jay Holgate didn't want to change the world. He just wanted to change the way his business did business. So he turned it green. And by doing what was right for him, he may just change the world.
The legacy of Hurricane Katrina is mostly broken lives. In that debris, one man saw something that fundamentally changed him.
"People were leaving their homes,” recalled Jay Holgate. "With just the shirt on their back, and they were welcomed in Atlanta by gas prices that were $3.50 a gallon -- and we just thought that that was criminal."
In the courier business since the mid-90s, Jay Holgate was rocked by the fallout from Hurricane Katrina. He began converting his courier fleet to hybrid cars.
"Somebody's gotta be a leader here,” said Holgate. "And we're gonna do it. We may not change anybody but our customers, but, we're gonna do the right thing.”
Half of the Green Express courier service fleet is green, with more on the way.
Before they added green cars to their fleet -- the hybrid vehicles -- the courier company was getting about 21miles to the gallon. Now they're getting between 46 and 51.
They've cut their fuel bill in half. They've cut their toxic emissions by 80 percent. They've reduced the amount of carbon pollution by 30 tons.
Since January they've gained more than 100 customers. By switching half his fleet to hybrid vehicles, Jay Holgate is saving $2,500 in fuel costs a year.
"The main part was the hybrid cars,” said Julie Hay of Midtown Bank. "Them being environmentally friendly, their service is excellent. It really is."
The Midtown Bank in Atlanta switched to Green Express as part of its decision to be more environmentally friendly.
"We don't sit in traffic,” said Brent Hilburn of Green Express. “We don't waste fuel and we don't waste time."
We don't need to look far to see the mark of man's hand on this planet. Jay Holgate is doing what he can to lighten the touch.
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