UPS Expands Green Fleet

UPS has placed an order for 50 hybrid electric delivery trucks and plans to acquire 4,100 low-emission conventional vehicles during 2006.

The hybrid electric vehicles are being purchased in two sizes from International Truck and Engine and Freightliner LLC. The trucks will feature lithium-ion batteries that are capable of faster recharging and have a longer life than batteries used in previous generations of HEVs. The truck bodies will be identical externally to the signature-brown trucks that now comprise the UPS fleet.

The first of the 50 HEVs will be deployed in Dallas, Texas, in June. Collectively, these trucks are expected to reduce fuel consumption by 44,000 gallons and CO2 gases released into the atmosphere by 457 metric tons over the course of a year compared to a normal diesel truck.