UPS: The Largest Fleet of Alternative Fuel Trucks, and Growing

UPS announced this morning that it is ordering 200 hybrid electric trucks for its delivery fleet. The order sets the record for the largest commercial order of such trucks, and significantly ups the size of UPS’ green fleet, which already happens to be the largest in the U.S.

Along with the hybrid vehicles, UPS is placing an order for 300 compressed natural gas vehicles. The two purchases will bring the total size of the green fleet to 2,218 vehicles. The green fleet serves customers in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Brazil, Mexico and Canada. It includes a variety of alternative fuel vehicles: electric, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, propane and hybrid.

As gas prices continue to rise, I’m pretty confident that other delivery companies will follow UPS’ lead, although I’m not sure how many will go for the sheer variety of trucks that UPS uses. It seems like UPS is trying to take advantage of the alternative fuel that is cheapest in each area that they operate in, which may realize significant savings for them, but it also means that they’ll have to expand their capabilities for servicing and fueling a variety of trucks at their central locations. It’ll be interesting to watch how UPS expands its green fleet.