Freeport’s Vanpool Program Keeps on Cruising

May 19, 2025 - Jose Loera enjoys driving. It gives him a chance to unwind, think and plan.
But even he has limits.

Loera, Truck Driver I, spends his work shifts driving trucks at the company’s Morenci, Arizona, site including haul trucks and other vehicles. When his shift ends, he faces a three-hour commute to his home in Douglas, Arizona, about 160 miles away.

Driving alone used to mean a lot of fatigue for Loera, and a lot of expense on his personal vehicle. But since February, Loera and three others living in the Douglas area are making their commute in a minivan provided by the company through its FCX Commutes program.

Now if he is tired, one of his fellow commuters can drive. The company pays for everything but the gas.

“Honestly it’s a really good benefit,” Loera said. “I enjoy driving but obviously there’s going to be days when I’m tired and that’s when one of the other drivers can take over. I rest in the car, and I’m not spending money on tires, on service, on windshields.”

FCX Commutes was launched about two years ago mainly to benefit employees traveling great distances to remote company sites where housing is limited. Bagdad and Morenci were particular priorities. Finding adequate and affordable housing for employes at both sites had been a challenge that was making it difficult to hire and retain workers.

FCX Commutes has grown to almost 1,700 riders in 363 company-supported vanpools in the United States. Ridership more than doubled in 2024 and has grown 11 percent since December.

“The growth continues,” said Matt Hazard, Project Manager Engineering II-Global Supply Chain, who coordinates the program. “We are not at a plateau. There’s a lot of positivity around it from site leaders to the employees. It’s a big benefit to employees, and we think it’s helped with employee turnover and employee cost of living.”

Morenci accounts for the biggest share of the ridership, with 153 vanpools and 737 riders as of April, including the group from Douglas. The Colorado sites also have high ridership, with Climax and Henderson providing vanpool service to about 200 employees each.

The way FCX Commutes works is the company leases the vehicles from Enterprise and makes them available for vanpools that meet the criteria. The only expense for the employees typically is gas.
Vanpool riders save an average of about $12,500 annually by sharing the ride, according to an analysis by Enterprise.

While the vanpool program initially targeted areas where housing was scarce, it has since become popular even at sites where there is less of a shortage. The company’s Sierrita site in southern Arizona has 37 vanpools with 169 riders, even though it’s only a 30-minute drive from Tucson.

Bryan Valdez, Human Resources Specialist II-Sierrita, who helps coordinate the ridesharing at the site that began about a year ago, attributes the success to the cost savings and convenience of taking a vanpool to work.

Chino and Tyrone, both near Silver City, New Mexico, have a combined ridership of about 200 workers.
Miami has 77 riders, Safford 70 and Bagdad 28. While housing was scarce in Bagdad when the rideshare program began, Freeport has since added new apartments and other housing options to the company-owned community.

It’s all part of the company’s efforts to improve the employee experience, a strategic objective to help retain employees and provide them with what they need to achieve production targets safely, said Will Brown, Senior Director-Global Supply Chain Category Management.

“In a time of rising costs and economic uncertainty, our vanpool program has proven to be more than just a transportation solution,” Brown said. “It’s a lifeline for remote workers, helping them save significantly on commuting while building community and reducing environmental impact.”

Photos (top to bottom): Hamdaweh Sulemana (left) Innovation Engineer II, and Victor Najera, Administrative Assistant-MIS, arrive for work at Sierrita in a company vanpool; Christian Woolley, Control Systems Analyst I, starts his day at Sierrita in a rideshare van provided by the company; Jose Loera says Freeport’s vanpool program has made his long commute from his home in Douglas to Morenci more pleasant and less costly.