October 11, 2019. UPS 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 USD 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 exclusive agreement with Agility Fuel Solutions, a business of Hexagon Composites. The investment in CNG fuel systems expands UPS’s relationship with Agility Fuel Solutions and supports UPS’s fleet sustainability efforts. 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).
“UPS continues to expand and improve our smart logistics network by implementing new technologies and creating a highly flexible, data-driven, and sustainable network,” said Juan Perez, chief information and engineering officer, UPS. “That is why we intend for 25 percent of our vehicles purchased in 2020 to run on alternative fuels.”
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 percent 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, making the company the largest consumer of RNG in the transportation industry.
“We are proud to continue our collaboration with UPS, a front-runner in clean transportation,” says Seung Baik, president of Agility Fuel Solutions. “With our range of proven and reliable clean fuel technologies and aftermarket support capabilities, we will assist UPS in reaching its sustainability targets.”