LOUISVILLE, KY – UPS has placed an order for 167 CNG delivery trucks and took delivery of 139 new propane delivery trucks for its North American delivery service. In addition, the company has launched an initiative to use biodiesel fuel in its ground support vehicles at its air hub in Louisville, Ky. UPS’ worldwide AFV fleet includes 1,629 vehicles, the largest such private fleet in the transportation industry. The fleet includes CNG, LNG, propane, electric, and hybrid electric vehicles. UPS already operates 800 CNG delivery trucks in the United States and plans to locate the new CNG vehicles in Dallas; Atlanta; Los Angeles; Ontario, Calif.; San Ramon, Calif.; and Fresno, Calif.

The propane vehicles will join the nearly 600 propane trucks already operating in Canada and Mexico. The propane and CNG trucks currently in the UPS fleet were converted from gasoline and diesel vehicles in the 1980s to run on alternative fuels. The new trucks are originally manufactured for alternative fuel use. The chassis for the CNG trucks are being purchased in two sizes from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation.

The trucks will feature engines from Cummins Westport that are expected to yield a 20 percent emissions reduction and 10 percent improvement in fuel economy over the cleanest diesel engines available in the market today. The new propane-powered vehicles were manufactured by Workhorse Custom Chassis and feature the latest technology in clean burning propane engines provided by Baytech Corporation. The biodiesel initiative in Louisville is being funded with the support of a $515,000 federal grant that is helping to offset some of the cost of building a fuel infrastructure at the airport. The infrastructure will provide B-5, a five percent biodiesel blend, to operate 366 UPS ground support vehicles starting early in 2008.