United Parcel Service announced it will build five additional compressed natural gas fueling stations and add more than 700 new CNG vehicles.
The $130 million dollar investment, which includes 400 semi-tractors and 330 terminal trucks, builds on previous investments of $100 million dollars in 2016 and $90 million dollars in 2017.
“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.”
The new CNG stations will be in Goodyear, AZ; Plainfield, IN; Edgerton, KS; Fort Worth, TX; and Arlington, TX. The semi-tractors will be supplied by Freightliner and Kenworth and 330 terminal trucks by TICO.
The announcement comes a week after UPS said it plans to buy 950 electric delivery trucks from Workhorse Group. It previously ordered about 50 of the Class 5 electric vans as part of a test.
The electric vehicles weigh 5,500 pounds, are equipped with 1,000-cubic foot cargo bays and can carry about 5,000 pounds of payload.
Earlier this year, UPS was honored with Fleet Owner’s Green Fleet of the Year award at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo.
