UPS plans to invest $100 million in CNG

March 18, 2016

UPS announced plans to build an additional 12 compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations and add 380 new CNG tractors to its growing alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet.

UPS (NYSE:UPS) announced plans to build an additional 12 compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations and add 380 new CNG tractors to its growing alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet.

The CNG fueling stations and vehicle purchases totaling $100 million are part of UPS’s ongoing commitment to diversify its fuel sources and reduce its environmental impact.

“At UPS, we own our fleet and our infrastructure. That allows us to invest for the long-term, rather than planning around near-term fluctuations in fuel pricing,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice-president–global engineering and sustainability. “CNG is part of a broad investment in a variety of alternative fuel vehicles. Taken together, all of our alternative fuel vehicles represent 6% of the more than 100,000 UPS global fleet, and have driven a 10% annual reduction in use of conventional fuel.”

UPS is working to meet its goal of logging one billion miles with its alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet by the end of 2017, using a Rolling Laboratory approach to determine the right alternative fuel solutions to meet the needs of route-specific driving environments.

CNG is made by compressing natural gas to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. The use of natural gas reduces greenhouse gas emissions six to 11 percent, according to the US Department of Energy.

The 12 new CNG stations will be built by TruStar Energy in Amarillo TX, Chattanooga TN, Columbia SC, El Paso TX, Fort Worth TX, Kansas City KS, Phoenix AZ, Reno NV, San Antonio TX, Tifton GA, Trinidad CO, and Willow Grove PA. New CNG tractors to be deployed in these cities will be manufactured by Kenworth, and Agility and Quantum Fuel Systems will provide the CNG storage systems. This investment builds on the company’s existing 18 CNG fueling stations in Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

UPS was one of the initial 13 leading companies to take the Obama administration’s American Business Act on Climate Pledge, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity 20% by 2020.

The company operates one of the largest private alternative fuel and advanced technology fleets in the United States. Its fleet includes more than 6,840 all-electric, hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, CNG, LNG, propane, and lightweight fuel-saving composite body vehicles.

Go to www.ups.com for further information.