UPS Places Large Order for Alternative-Fuel Trucks
By Frederick Kiel, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the May 19 print edition of Transport Topics.
UPS Inc. last week announced a major increase in its investment in alternative-fuel vehicles, saying it has ordered 200 diesel-electric hybrid delivery vans and 300 vans powered by compressed natural gas.
“All 500 of the trucks we ordered have the same size and shape of our usual [medium-duty] delivery vans,” UPS spokeswoman Elizabeth Raspberry told Transport Topics May 13. “The 300 CNG trucks will all be delivered and put into service this year in the United States, while the electric hybrids will arrive in early 2009 and be deployed then.”
The 200 hybrid trucks are expected to save 176,000 gallons of fuel annually, or 880 gallons a vehicle, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,786 metric tons each year, UPS said. Those numbers represent a 40% improvement in fuel efficiency and a 90% reduction in emissions, compared with convention vehicles.
“That is the equivalent of removing almost 100 conventional UPS trucks from the road for a year,” the company said.
UPS, which is based in Atlanta, currently operates more than 800 vehicles that run on natural gas in the United States and 50 electric-hybrids, Raspberry said.
Eaton Corp. will manufacture the hybrid-electric powertrain, while Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., part of Daimler Trucks North America, will provide the chassis for both the hybrid and CNG trucks, UPS said.
A hybrid-electric vehicle offers the most benefit in stop-and-go applications, including package delivery, because hybrids employ regenerative braking. They capture excess energy from the stopping process, store it and then use it for propulsion the next time the vehicle starts.
In a press release, Freightliner said that the hybrid electric trucks may be eligible for a tax credit of up to $4,500 a vehicle, while the CNG may qualify for tax credits of up to $25,000 a vehicle.
UPS, which ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, said it operates alternative fuel vehicles in North America, Brazil, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The vehicles have traveled nearly 144 million miles since 2000, UPS said.
FedEx Corp., UPS’ main competitor, said at the end of April that the 170 hybrid vehicles in its worldwide ground fleet have now driven more than 2 million miles. FedEx said its hybrids get 42% better mileage, and they emit significantly less greenhouse gases and particulate matter.
FedEx’s vehicles were also built by FCCC and use Eaton components.
Freightliner said the UPS hybrid-electric will be powered by a Cummins Inc. ISB 200-horsepower diesel engine in conjunction with the Eaton hybrid, 44-kilowatt power system.
The hybrid motor/generator, driven by lithium-ion batteries, offers a combination of diesel and electric power on a chassis rated up to 29,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, Freightliner said. The weight figure puts the chassis in Class 7.
“The hybrid-electric powertrain, combined with a diesel engine and electric motor, drive the FCCC chassis to achieve an over 40% improvement in fuel economy and an over 90% reduction in emissions, compared to baseline nonhybrid vehicles, while demonstrating an over 99% of in-service up time,” Freightliner said.
The CNG vehicles will be equipped with the 5.9-liter, Cummins B Gas-Plus Natural Gas engine, Freightliner said.
Freightliner said its FCCC subsidiary has sold more than 160 hybrids since 2004 and more than 1,000 CNG-powered trucks since 2000.
This story appears in the May 19 print edition of Transport Topics.
UPS Inc. last week announced a major increase in its investment in alternative-fuel vehicles, saying it has ordered 200 diesel-electric hybrid delivery vans and 300 vans powered by compressed natural gas.
“All 500 of the trucks we ordered have the same size and shape of our usual [medium-duty] delivery vans,” UPS spokeswoman Elizabeth Raspberry told Transport Topics May 13. “The 300 CNG trucks will all be delivered and put into service this year in the United States, while the electric hybrids will arrive in early 2009 and be deployed then.”
The 200 hybrid trucks are expected to save 176,000 gallons of fuel annually, or 880 gallons a vehicle, and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1,786 metric tons each year, UPS said. Those numbers represent a 40% improvement in fuel efficiency and a 90% reduction in emissions, compared with convention vehicles.
“That is the equivalent of removing almost 100 conventional UPS trucks from the road for a year,” the company said.
UPS, which is based in Atlanta, currently operates more than 800 vehicles that run on natural gas in the United States and 50 electric-hybrids, Raspberry said.
Eaton Corp. will manufacture the hybrid-electric powertrain, while Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp., part of Daimler Trucks North America, will provide the chassis for both the hybrid and CNG trucks, UPS said.
A hybrid-electric vehicle offers the most benefit in stop-and-go applications, including package delivery, because hybrids employ regenerative braking. They capture excess energy from the stopping process, store it and then use it for propulsion the next time the vehicle starts.
In a press release, Freightliner said that the hybrid electric trucks may be eligible for a tax credit of up to $4,500 a vehicle, while the CNG may qualify for tax credits of up to $25,000 a vehicle.
UPS, which ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, said it operates alternative fuel vehicles in North America, Brazil, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The vehicles have traveled nearly 144 million miles since 2000, UPS said.
FedEx Corp., UPS’ main competitor, said at the end of April that the 170 hybrid vehicles in its worldwide ground fleet have now driven more than 2 million miles. FedEx said its hybrids get 42% better mileage, and they emit significantly less greenhouse gases and particulate matter.
FedEx’s vehicles were also built by FCCC and use Eaton components.
Freightliner said the UPS hybrid-electric will be powered by a Cummins Inc. ISB 200-horsepower diesel engine in conjunction with the Eaton hybrid, 44-kilowatt power system.
The hybrid motor/generator, driven by lithium-ion batteries, offers a combination of diesel and electric power on a chassis rated up to 29,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, Freightliner said. The weight figure puts the chassis in Class 7.
“The hybrid-electric powertrain, combined with a diesel engine and electric motor, drive the FCCC chassis to achieve an over 40% improvement in fuel economy and an over 90% reduction in emissions, compared to baseline nonhybrid vehicles, while demonstrating an over 99% of in-service up time,” Freightliner said.
The CNG vehicles will be equipped with the 5.9-liter, Cummins B Gas-Plus Natural Gas engine, Freightliner said.
Freightliner said its FCCC subsidiary has sold more than 160 hybrids since 2004 and more than 1,000 CNG-powered trucks since 2000.
