ATLANTA, Ga., June 14, 2006 - UPS's fleet of alternative fuel trucks
has hit a major milestone, traveling more than 100 million miles to
deliver packages to homes and businesses.
The total mileage accumulated just since 2000 now stands at 108 million
miles, or the equivalent of circling the Earth more than 4,337 times or
traveling from Earth to Venus four-and-a-half times.
"UPS customers benefit from our ability to carefully manage and conserve
fuel throughout the business," said Robert Hall, UPS fleet environmental
manager. "But our commitment to these technologies goes beyond just
saving fuel. We want to reduce emissions and our impact on the
environment and operate in a sustainable manner."
UPS operates one of the largest delivery fleets in the world and for
decades has actively explored different power technologies. UPS has
invested more than $15 million in its alternative fuel fleet, which is
currently operating hydrogen fuel cell, liquefied natural gas,
compressed natural gas, electric and propane-powered trucks in the
United States, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany and Brazil.
The company's use of alternative fuel vehicles began back in the 1930's
with electric vehicles in New York. However, UPS did not begin isolating
mileage data for its "green fleet" until 2000.
UPS also has partnered with government agencies and major corporations
to help advance the state of vehicle technology, including two such
partnerships with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). UPS, the
EPA and DaimlerChrysler are working together to obtain practical
knowledge about operating hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in a commercial
delivery fleet.
UPS was the first company in the U.S.to deploy hydrogen fuel cell
technology in a commercial fleet. Since that launch in 2004, the
vehicles - which emit only water -- have driven 34,000 miles making
deliveries.
UPS's second partnership with the EPA includes building and testing the
world's first hydraulic hybrid urban delivery vehicle. This multi-phase
project includes two UPS truck prototypes with different full-series
hydraulic hybrid drivetrains. UPS will begin testing the first vehicle
later this year and another next year.
UPS also recently announced it will add 50 hybrid electric vehicles to
its fleet over the next year. These electric hybrids will feature
third-generation technology and are expected to deliver a 35%
improvement in fuel economy over the vehicles being replaced. In
addition, UPS will add 4,100 low emission vehicles in 2006 to the more
than 8,000 such vehicles already in its fleet.