Environmentally Responsible Delivery Trucks

Delivery trucks emit gases that contribute to global warming, but there is a green lining to this story.

| January/February 2004

When shipping or receiving a package, look carefully at all of your options and select the environmentally responsible choice.

The bad news

Package delivery trucks travel millions of miles a day, burning tens of millions of gallons of diesel fuel. In addition to dropping off boxes and envelopes, they leave behind smog and global warming gases. Trucks that spew carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons and carbon dioxide are a real problem in densely populated, highly trafficked urban areas where air pollution can be severe.

The good news

Several commercial delivery fleets are beginning to use alternative energy. Already, some delivery trucks run on natural gas, which produces only a quarter of the carbon monoxide emissions and half the nitrogen oxide emissions of their diesel counterparts, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. UPS operates 1,024 compressed natural gas vehicles around the country, and it just deployed a hydrogen fuel cell truck as a test in Michigan. FedEx is in the process of incorporating energy-saving hybrid-powered vehicles into its fleet.

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