Not macho for mowing company, but tiny Yaris saves money

Staffers at Missouri Mowing rely on trucks to haul mowers and other machines and equipment for groundskeeping and landscaping—and to haul soil, mulch and rocks.

But while the landscapers need larger vehicles for hauling, they wanted to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and to trim fuel costs when making sales calls and other trips that don’t entail hauling.

Jed Taylor, the company’s founder and general manager, realized that using small cars would be more functional and fuel efficient than traveling with empty trucks. His two salespeople had been covering the mid-Missouri area in pickups, one averaging 11 miles per gallon and the other 14.

“We wanted to consider smaller cars for the sales staff in an effort to become more green and to help cut costs,” Taylor said.

Missouri Mowing invested in Toyota Yaris vehicles. The four-cylinder cars average 34 miles per gallon. “They have really small engines,” Taylor said. “But they work fantastically for what [the salespeople] do. The cars are more than paying for themselves.”

Taylor considered hybrid vehicles as well, but cost outweighed advantages for the firm.

In addition to lesser environmental impact and cost savings, Missouri Mowing discovered an unexpected benefit—marketing.

“The Yaris is really eye-catching and funky-looking. We decaled them up, and people can’t help but notice them,” Taylor said.