UPS has announced a $130 million investment in natural gas technology in the US. The company is to build an additional five compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations and add more than 700 new CNG vehicles including 400 semi-tractors and 330 terminal trucks to its fleet.
It follows similar investments of $100 million dollars in 2016 and $90 million dollars last year and means that UPS will have invested more than $1 billion in alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles and fueling stations from 2008 through 2018.
“We strongly believe further investment in our natural gas fleet is a key element to help us achieve our long-term goals for reducing our CO2 emissions,” said Carlton Rose, president, global fleet maintenance and engineering for UPS. “We demonstrated the effectiveness of natural gas vehicles and fuel in 2017 by using 77 million total gallon equivalents in our ground fleet,” he said.
The five new CNG stations will be in Goodyear, Ariz., Plainfield, Ind., Edgerton, Kan., Fort Worth, Texas, and Arlington, Texas. Four hundred semi-tractors will be supplied by Freightliner and Kenworth and 330 terminal trucks by Tico.
UPS currently operates more than 50 natural gas fueling stations in the US as well as in Vancouver, Canada, and Tamworth, UK.
The company has a 2020 goal of one in four new vehicles purchased being an alternative fuel or advanced technology vehicle.
Image credit: UPS
