UPS recently announced that it has purchased 100 all-electric delivery vehicles to deploy in short-range delivery routes in California as part of the carrier’s ongoing effort to reduce emissions. The 100 vehicles will replace older diesel trucks in the company’s fleet. UPS has already tested this type of vehicle and is anxious to put them to use in “real world” applications. Already, the company is operating all-electric vehicles in New York and Europe. They are able to travel within a 90-mile range and have displaced more than 126,000 gallons of fuel a year that Continue Reading

As Hurricane Irene churns ever closer to shore, carriers along the East Coast and particularly the Northeast, which is expected to bear the brunt of the storm, have their disaster preparedness plans already in motion. Carriers like UPS and FedEx are closely monitoring the storm and ready to take action needed to protect employees, vehicles and freight based on conditions. Ports in the areas that could feel the storm’s effects closed up shop early today ahead of Irene’s arrival, and in New York, the possibility of closing bridges and tunnels–and some even potentially Continue Reading

Though the package volume handled by UPS last year rose, the company’s latest annual Sustainability Report shows a reduction in the amount of fuel used to deliver each package. From 2009 to 2010, package volume grew 1.8 percent, while fuel consumption per package dropped 3.3 percent. Several factors were cited in this improvement, such as routing technologies, load optimization, monitoring and managing driver behaviors–particularly with Continue Reading

With its addition of 48 heavy-duty liquefied natural gas-powered vehicles, United Parcel Service will bring its total alternative fuel fleet size to nearly 2,000. The new trucks will be deployed in Las Vegas and Ontario, California and operate routes between those two cities. The carrier’s investment will be partially Continue Reading

On Monday, UPS offered customers the option of paying a small fee to calculate and offset carbon emissions associated with their shipments. The carbon neutral shipping program is available in 35 countries and territories across Europe, Asia and the Americas through all shippers at UPS.com, online retailers, The UPS Store and other retail locations. For the initial launch, the company purchased offsets from the Continue Reading

For Class 8 trucks, hybrid engine technology is years away, but already in other medium- and heavy-duty applications, the innovation is paying off, and not just with fuel savings of 30 percent or more. Shorter downtimes, simple maintenance and mile after environmentally friendly mile for forward thinking fleets are among the bonuses for the Continue Reading

The addition of 50 hybrid delivery trucks in the Philadelphia area brings UPS Inc.’s total fleet of low-emission and alternative-fuel vehicles to 20,000. Delivery routes in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Phoenix have already incorporated hybrid trucks, and plans call for the addition of more in eight U.S. cities. The carrier is estimating that these 200 hybrids will help Continue Reading