In a roughly $70 million investment, UPS (No. 1 in the CCJ Top 250) announced it is buying 1,000 propane-powered package delivery trucks and installing 50 fueling stations at UPS locations nationwide.
The trucks will replace gasoline- and diesel-powered trucks used mostly in Louisiana and Oklahoma, UPS said.
The announcement came at the NTEA Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, Ind., March 5. Similar rollouts in other states are pending, UPS said.
The propane-powered trucks can travel up to 200 miles on a tank, and the new 1,000-truck fleet is expected to travel more than 25 million miles annually and displace the use of about 3.5 million gallons of crude oil-based fuels each year.
UPS will begin its venture in the middle of this year with plans to complete it by next year.
“The opportunity to road test new propane vehicles and fueling equipment with one of the most sophisticated fleets in the country is a major milestone for the propane industry,” says Roy Willis, president and CEO of PERC. “This announcement is the culmination of many entities bringing together the best in propane technology to achieve the greatest economic and environmental results.”
UPS already has one of the largest private alternative fuel fleets in the nation with more than 3,150 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. This includes all-electric, hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, CNG, LNG, propane, biomethane and light-weight fuel-saving composite body vehicles.
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