Brilliant is a mean, GREEN-loving machine…..

We are super excited to share with you some fantastic, and long overdue news. Part of the delay can be explained by the fact that our green choices were the result of a home grown and ‘organic’ selection process which didn’t seem newsworthy at the time.  

By the same token, we were reluctant to ‘hype’ our dedication to renewable and sustainable ‘green’ practices for marketing purposes. We are committed to green practices because it’s the right thing to do; not because it makes business sense which, in fact, it does.

After consideration, we recognize we’ve been doing many terrific things for years and it’s time to let the world know! Plus we can give those transportation skeptics something to chew on.

We do what’s right for our company, our employees, and our clients. We keep a people-centric view of our business and believe that doing right by people touched by our business should also extend to the planet we share.

Brilliant Does ‘Green’ Differently 

It might seem counterintuitive to operate a transportation company and also talk about helping the environment, but it’s not. People still have to get around and one major way we can continue to fulfill our mission and still be green is to transform the way use our precious resources; namely, fuel and water.

Therefore, after months of research and deliberation, we are thrilled to announce our commitment to BIODIESEL.  

We are moving our entire fleet of Mercedes Sprinter Vans, as well as our 28 and 36 passenger luxury minibuses, to a blend of recycled cooking oil and diesel.

Diesel is already a far superior, and more energy efficient, fuel than gasoline. Biodiesel raises the bar even higher.  

In the last decade, diesel has come a long way and no longer smells or burns dirty. New diesel engines are also using new technology to run quieter. In fact, we can “clean idle” our luxury vans and clients don’t even know they are running. They are that quiet and clean smelling!

This upgrade in diesel engines is, in large part, to new federal regulations enacted in 2010 mandating diesel fuel be ‘clean-burning ultra low sulphur.'

Black exhaust clouds are so last century!

We have been using this clean-burning diesel fuel since our company’s inception. However, the addition of biodiesel takes our green commitment to a powerful new level!

The biodiesel we’re using is recycled cooking oil blended to varying degrees with a petroleum-based product. The new blend does several terrific things for a true win win:

• It reduces our dependence on fossil fuels.
• It recycles old cooking oil that may have been disposed of improperly.
• It fuels our fleet of custom Mercedes vans and luxury minibuses with the cleanest burning fuel available!

Our biodiesel provider goes restaurant to restaurant offering to haul away their used cooking oil for free! Who couldn’t agree with that?

Switching to biodiesel is a big deal for us. It’s not universally available, which is why we are installing, at considerable cost, our own biodiesel fueling station at our headquarters in New York City.

All our diesel vehicles will be now be garaging out with a fuel tank of biodiesel for every run they make. For out of town and long-distance trips, we’ll do our best to find and refuel at biodiesel stations along the route as long as we can do so without inconveniencing clients in the process.

When fueling at biodiesel stations is not possible, our vehicles can run on any mixture of biodiesel and regular diesel. So there’s no need for any ‘range anxiety’.

We Always Do More

Using alternative fuels is not the only area where we work on creating a greener footprint.

We us non-toxic cleaning ingredients wherever possible, and have since the start of our operations. In fact, in our interiors, we only use organic Murphy’s Oil Soap distilled with water. This requires more work and elbow grease but it doesn’t leave a bad smell and it’s easy on the leather, skin and lungs.

More importantly, we’ve saved tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of gallons of water in our cleaning operations. Industry estimates range from a low of 50 gallons to a high of 200 gallons of water used per car wash. Since we pride ourselves on our meticulously detailed vehicles, and wash each vehicle after every single use, we would waste tons of water. Especially with our fleet of larger SUVs, luxury vans and minibuses. Normal water consumption and waste would be astronomical!

What is our Brilliant solution to water conservation?  

I’m glad you asked!

We ‘wash’ our vehicles in a waterless fashion using gentle mixes of detergents and wax that allow dirt to be removed with a rag! This requires us to remain diligent about a solid base coat of wax on all our luxury vans, SUVs, and minibuses. But we know water is a scarce commodity and has far better application than cleaning our vehicles.

There’s no sense in wasting so much water when there’s superior alternatives, even if it means higher costs in terms of natural cleaning supplies and human capital. That little extra effort goes a long way in sparing mother earth!

We have also embraced green technology wherever possible, both in our transportation operations and administrative work. We’ve installed smart Nest thermostats which help us conserve energy and remain comfortable in our offices.

This just makes sense right? Why heat and cool unnecessarily when new technology can ‘learn’ our work and occupancy patterns; thereby being more efficient in energy usage?

Wow! Having written this, I can’t believe we’ve never shared any of this with you before. Every choice we make is geared towards your safety and well-being and that of our environment. We believe in sustainable and renewable resources and we’re committed to acting responsibly!  

We hope you feel similarly. After all, Earth Day shouldn’t be observed only once a year. Consideration of our natural system should happen every day.

Long live mother earth!