UPS to Purchase 6,000 Natural Gas-Powered Trucks

(Photo: A UPS liquefied natural gas tractor. Credit: UPS)

UPS recently announced plans to purchase more than 6,000 natural gas-powered trucks beginning in 2020 and running through 2022. This three-year commitment represents a $450 million investment in expanding the company’s alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicle fleet as well as supporting infrastructure.

The new vehicles will be equipped with compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel systems provided under an agreement with Agility Fuel Solutions, a business of Hexagon Composites. It will help reduce UPS’s carbon footprint and is expected to have a positive influence on national CNG market growth. The CNG fleet expansion also provides additional capacity for expanding the use of renewable natural gas (RNG).

Vehicles equipped with CNG fuel systems can interchangeably use RNG and conventional natural gas. Produced from landfills, dairy farms, and other bio sources, RNG yields up to a 90% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional diesel. As of October 2019, UPS has agreed to purchase 230 million gallon equivalents of RNG over the next seven years.

In September, UPS introduced a new line of range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) to its fleets serving Birmingham and Southampton, UK, to overcome the range limitations of pure electric vehicles within the logistics industry.

The range jump from 100km to 400km is the result of UPS’s latest collaboration with Tevva. The new REEVs operate using hybrid electric vehicle technology, which increases route range whilst maintaining the cargo capacity of traditional diesel vehicles of the same weight class.