UPS making the switch to natural gas vehicles

Bloomberg/Fuel Fix:
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS), the world’s largest package-delivery company, said it can save 40 percent in fuel costs by running its long-haul semi-tractor trailer fleet on natural gas instead of gasoline or diesel.

UPS is reducing gasoline and diesel use to cut emissions and operate more efficiently, Scott Wicker, the Atlanta-based company’s chief sustainability officer, said in an interview Thursday. The company wants to reach 1 billion miles (1.62 billion kilometers) driven by alternative or advanced-technology vehicles by 2017, up from a previous target of around 400 million, it said today in its sustainability report.

“It’s really the vehicles that are on the freeways that burn the most fuel,” Wicker said. “Right now natural gas is the big game changer.”

Transportation: CenterPoint adding natural gas vehicles to its fleet

Earlier this year, UPS said it would buy almost 1,000 liquefied natural gas, or LNG, tractors in the next two years to boost its fleet of 2,700 alternative fuel and advanced-technology vehicles. It’s adding LNG refueling infrastructure with partners in the U.S. Southwest and buying electric trucks, which work best in densely populated areas, Wicker said.
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I think UPS has the perfect business model for making the switch to natural gas.  It can build fueling facilities at its hubs for trucks that return to base every evening.  It also can schedule its long haul routes so the trucks can refuel as they deliver to regional hubs.   The 40 percent savings on fuel cost whould quickly repay the cost of infrastructure and equipment.

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