UPS increases CNG-related vehicle and fueling station presence with major expansion

Taking steps to leverage its increasing traction on the natural gas front, UPS recently announced it intends to build 15 compressed natural gas fueling stations in an effort to support the purchase and planned deployment of 1,400 new CNG vehicles over the next year.

The company said this investment is a 30 percent increase to its current alternative fuel and advanced technology global fleet comprised of 5,508 vehicles, adding that the fueling stations, of which 12 will be in new natural gas deployment areas, and vehicle purchases have multiple drivers, including: an ongoing commitment to diversify fuel sources; implement a fleet infrastructure that can utilize lower carbon intensity fuel sources; and increase experience using alternative fuels in freight transport applications.

“UPS’s investment in a large scale alternative energy fleet has enabled the company to avoid more than 34 million gallons of conventional fuels since 2000,” said Mitch Nichols, UPS senior vice president of transportation and engineering, in a statement. “[This] CNG announcement demonstrates UPS’s plans to expand use of widely available natural gas. CNG is an important building block in our long-term fleet strategy and offers environmental and economic advantages.”

UPS said 12 of the CNG stations will be in new natural gas vehicle deployment areas, and three will replace existing CNG stations with more robust, higher capacity equipment. And it plans to deploy new CNG vehicles in 15 cities, including: Atlanta, Ga.; Charleston, W.Va.; Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colo.; Doraville, Ga.; Lenexa, Kan.; Lexington, Ky.; Montgomery, Ala.; New Orleans, La.; New Stanton, Pa.; Oklahoma City, Okla.; Port Allen, La.; Shreveport, La.; Richmond, Va., and Roanoke, Va. UPS has eight CNG fueling stations in California, Colorado, Georgia and Oklahoma and also operates CNG vehicles in Germany, the Netherlands and Thailand.

UPS Sustainability PR Manager Kristen Petrella told LM that when the company makes the decision to deploy natural gas vehicles in a specific location, it evaluates the fuel infrastructure options. 

“Each location is evaluated separately,” she explained.  “The decision to build our own station on property is primarily due to the fact that we are deploying enough vehicles to fully utilize the station.  Having our own station on site also ensures that we have complete and unfettered access to the station when needed, and with many of our natural gas trucks being dual utilized on more than one route per day, we often are limited in the amount of time we have to refuel between dispatches.  The planning stages of these individual projects vary from 6-to-12 months.  Each deployment project in this group of 15 has its own individual characteristics and there are a lot of moving parts to consider.”

UPS said that it expects its alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet to continue to log more than 350 million miles per year, when these current efforts are completed, and in turn supporting the company’s goal of driving one billion miles in this fleet by the end of 2017.

What’s more, it said these efforts will displace approximately 54 million gallons of conventional diesel and gasoline annually while reducing total vehicle emissions. It cited U.S. Department of Energy data, which states the use of natural gas instead of gasoline cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 6-11 percent over the fuel life cycle.

As for the company’s next steps on the CNG front Petrella said its multi-city deployment in 2015 will keep UPS busy for the time being, adding “we will continue to explore additional opportunities for 2016 and beyond.”