UPS Expects 40% Fuel Savings With Natural Gas

United Parcel Service expects to save 40 percent in fuel costs by switching its long-haul semi-tractor trailer fleet to natural gas, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

Scott Wicker, chief sustainability officer at the world’s largest package-delivery company told, told Bloomberg that UPS is reducing gasoline and diesel to cut emissions.

In April, UPS announced plans to purchase about 700 liquefied natural gas 18-wheelers and build four refueling stations to serve its heavy-weight rigs by the end of 2014.

UPS has more than 1,000 natural gas vehicles worldwide. Natural gas prices — which are 30 to 40 percent lower than imported diesel — and the boom in domestic gas production prompted the company to invest more aggressively in the infrastructure necessary to make natural gas part of its US delivery network, UPS says. The company also says natural gas generates 25 percent less carbon dioxide emissions than diesel fuel.

The company is also adding LNG refueling infrastructure in the Southwest and buying electric trucks, Bloomberg reports.

In addition to making its ground fleet more sustainable, UPS has taken steps to make its air fleet more fuel-efficient.

In May, UPS added wingtip devices to its Boeing 767 fleet that it says will save more than 6 million gallons of fuel each year and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 62,000 metric tons. The winglets will result in a 4 percent fuel saving on each 767 flight, the company says.

UPS’ Wicker tells Bloomberg that the company’s sustainability efforts save about $50 million for each mile saved a year.

According to a Lux Research report published last week, with crude oil price projected to top $140 per barrel by 2035, alternative fuel technologies — which can produce gasoline at the equivalent of $75 per barrel — will rise and natural gas and waste biomass will become increasingly viable choices for making liquid fuels.