FairPoint Saves Big With Anti-Idling Push

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt., July 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- FairPoint Communications has cut emissions and fuel use in the past year from efforts to curb idling in its fleet of work vehicles.

FairPoint partnered with the American Lung Association to hold presentations at company garages on the benefits of reducing idling.  Those discussions spurred renewed interest in reducing the amount of time trucks idle.

For example, FairPoint saw its total idling time drop more than 42 percent from the first four months of 2011 as compared to same months this year. FairPoint operates 1,232 fleet trucks across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

"FairPoint has made a concerted effort across northern New England to reduce idling; it's the right thing to do for public health and to be a more energy-efficient company," said Karen Mead, senior vice president of operations and engineering. "This is a significant step toward reducing our carbon footprint in the region."

According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Center for Transportation Research at the University of Chicago, idling of service utility trucks can account for up to 37 percent of total fuel used.

"This is a great effort by FairPoint," said Wayne Michaud, director of Idle-Free VT and former coordinator of the American Lung Association's Vermont Idle-Free Fleets program. "Less fuel used means better air quality and better health, particularly for children and the elderly. And, of course, this type of reduction really helps reduce the company's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions."

About FairPoint Communications, Inc.FairPoint Communications, Inc. (NasdaqCM: FRP) is a leading communications provider of broadband Internet access, local and long-distance phone, television and other high-capacity data services to customers in communities across 18 states. Through its fast, reliable fiber network, FairPoint delivers high-quality data and voice networking communications solutions to residential, business and wholesale customers. FairPoint delivers VantagePoint(SM) services through its resilient IP-based network in northern New England. This state-of-the-art fiber network provides carrier Ethernet connections to support the surging bandwidth and performance requirements for cloud-based applications like network storage, disaster recovery, distance learning, medical imaging, video conferencing and CAD/CAM along with traditional voice, VoIP, video and Internet access solutions. Additional information about FairPoint products and services is available at www.FairPoint.com. You can also connect with FairPoint on Twitter ( http://www.twitter.com/myfairpoint) and Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/myfairpoint).

SOURCE FairPoint Communications, Inc.

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