Home → 2008 → July → Thinking about changing your fleet to alterative fuels? How about 195,000 vehicles?


Thinking about changing your fleet to alterative fuels? How about 195,000 vehicles?

By Gail Nickel-Kailing on July 29th, 2008

So how many trucks/vans do you have on the road? Two, ten, 100? Think it’s going to be expensive to replace them with alternative fuel vehicles? Chin up, bucky! You could have 220,000 trucks, cars, and vans out there!

The USPS maintains the nation’s largest civilian fleet with nearly 220,000 vehicles to support 37,000 Post Offices staffed by more than 785,000 employees who annually collect, process and deliver nearly half the world’s mail volume — 212 billion pieces — to 148 million addresses six days a week. Of that 220,000, 195,000 are vehicles often seen in neighborhoods delivering mail. And 43,000 are already alternative fuel capable.

Did you know? The USPS began testing alternative fuel vehicles beginning in 1899 with battery power.

A one-cent increase in a gallon of fuel annually adds $8 million to USPS expenses. Fuel costs last year were $1.7 billion. This year’s will increase by $600 million.

Read the USPS’ announcement of their “green” fleet testing strategy, the launch of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and their plans for those 195,000 vehicles here>>

Photo Credit: adobemac via Flickr under Creative Commons License

  1. 4 Responses to “Thinking about changing your fleet to alterative fuels? How about 195,000 vehicles?”

  2. By Environmental E on Jul 30, 2008 | Reply

    I’d love to be sanguine about this alternative fuel push by the USPS, but it’s the wrong alt fuel! Hydrogen fuel cell technology is an ENERGY LOSER! As James Howard Kunstler says, hydrogen is not a true energy source since you cannot drill into the earth and obtain hydrogen. Hydrogen must be extracted from other energy sources, such as natural gas or using electricity at a total net loss of energy! That’s why big car companies have mostly abandoned their hyroden plans.
    And, I’m sorry, but the fact that the USPS began testing alt fuels backin 1899 but wait until now to unleash an alt fuel fleet? That’s downright pathetic.

  3. By Tom Stodola on Jul 30, 2008 | Reply

    A good symbolic gesture. You have to start somewhere, and if we wait for the “new generation vehicle which promises to be more fuel efficient” we will never get off the bench and into the game.
    I hope that between the USPS’ effort, and that of Honda with the FCX Clarity, we see more availability of alternative energy source vehicles.

  4. By American Economy Forum on Jul 30, 2008 | Reply

    They should have done long time ago that all vehicles run on electics, because mostly route for each mailman might be or average of 15 to 20 miles so we have tech. that fit in to this vehicles.

    We not lait, so it is good that American money will stay in America and we don’t have to depend on middle east. They build islands look like world map on our money? noway once all america change in to run on electic than American Economy would start getting better and better.

    Good Job Mr. Potter (Post Master General)

  5. By Rick Littrell on Aug 5, 2008 | Reply

    What if they could save >20% on fuel costs? What if the engines could fun fuels besides “traditional” gas? We have been working with a company that has a VERY interesting technology that is based on internal combustion platform, but can increase effeciency and reduce harmful emissions to “virtually” zero. Pretty cool stuff. Check their web site out and make your own judgement.

    http://www.zajacmotors.com (There is a Photorealistic image of a concept on the site, which we produced for them)

    Regards less of what the government selects while moving forward on reducing comsumption of petro products, it is good to see that they are trying to figure it out. There’s got to be a better way!

    I just wish that they were further down the path.

    Later,
    Rick Littrell (Magicomm, LLC)

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