City Furniture Purchases First-of-its-Kind Electric Vehicle in Southeast

Furniture World News Desk on 8/28/2019

Taking a key step toward becoming carbon neutral, City Furniture announced that this week it put the first all-electric Kalmar Ottawa Electric Terminal Tractor in the Southeastern U.S. to work, moving hundreds of semi-trailers and containers at the firm’s massive distribution center in Tamarac.

“As we move closer to our 2040 Green Promise, focused on having fully carbon-neutral operations by 2040, we’re pleased to show that electric yard tractors are an effective alternative to the retail industry’s traditional diesel-fueled yard vehicles,” said City Furniture President Andrew Koenig. “Achieving net zero emissions means finding new ways to help streamline our operations and create positive ripple effects in our industry.”

As one of the national furniture industry’s largest and “greenest” furniture retailers, City Furniture has been a pioneer in building eight showrooms to meet national Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, and the firm has converted all of its 144-truck delivery fleet to run on compressed natural gas (CNG). Logging more than 12 million miles on CNG since 2014, the company estimates it has cut its trucking emissions by 45 percent.

City Furniture is the first company in the Southeastern U.S. to purchase the T2E Ottawa terminal tractor, which Canada-based vehicle manufacturer Kalmar introduced in 2018. The furniture retailer acquired the zero emission, lithium-ion battery powered terminal tractor to move semi-trailers around the yard at the 900,000-square-foot main distribution center. Compared with traditional diesel powered terminal tractors, the equipment operates quietly and reduces maintenance costs, since it runs clean and has fewer moving parts. Producing less noise, vibration and heat than diesel versions, electric terminal tractors also benefit their drivers, Koenig said. The T2E’s on-board inverter changer allows the machine to be opportunity charged during working breaks.

“Getting to net zero by 2040 demands that we find every viable way to make our operations more environmentally friendly,” said Koenig. “We want other retailers to know that this new approach to fleet yard operations is a practical, cost-effective way to improve warehousing and distribution,” he added.

City Furniture also uses four CNG-powered semi-trucks at its Tamarac and Ocoee, Fla. distribution centers. Five all-electric Tesla Semi trucks currently on order will move large loads from South Florida to Ocoee.

 In addition, City Furniture took an early industry lead on recycling and now recycles 98 percent of its waste stream. The state-of-the-art recycling center at the headquarters campus in Tamarac annually condenses 5.5 million pounds of cardboard and 500,000 pounds of plastic and Styrofoam.

About City Furniture: City Furniture operates 19 showrooms from Miami through Vero Beach, and in Fort Myers, Naples, The Villages and Orlando, as well as 13 Ashley Furniture showrooms as that brand’s Southeast and Southwest Florida licensee. For information: www.cityfurniture.com.