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UPS adds 306 CNG and LPG trucks to U.S. fleet

9th October 2007

UPS announced yesterday it was adding 306 alternative fuel vehicles to its "green fleet" by placing an order for 167 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) delivery trucks while taking delivery of 139 new LPG delivery trucks in North America. Additionally, the company has launched an initiative to use biodiesel in its ground support vehicles at the UPS Worldport® air hub in Louisville.

The CNG trucks will join more than 800 such vehicles already in use in the United States. The propane vehicles are joining nearly 600 propane trucks already operating in Canada and Mexico.

UPS's global alternative-fuel fleet now stands at 1,629 vehicles - the largest such private fleet in the transportation industry - and includes CNG, liquefied natural gas, LPG and electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The company also is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on a hydraulic hybrid delivery vehicle, deploying technology originally developed in a military R&D contract.

The LPG and CNG trucks currently in the UPS fleet were converted from gasoline and diesel vehicles in the 1980s to run on alternative fuels. The new trucks are originally manufactured for alternative fuel useby Freightliner, and use Cummins Westport engines which are expected to yield a 20% emissions reduction and 10% improvement in fuel economy over the cleanest diesel engines currently available.

The new propane-powered vehicles were manufactured by Workhorse Custom Chassis with engines provided by Baytech Corporation. Propane vehicles emit about one-third fewer reactive organic gases than gasoline vehicles. Nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide emissions also are 20% and 60% less, respectively, than conventional vehicles.

The biodiesel initiative in Louisville is being launched with the support of a $515,000 federal grant that is helping offset some of the cost of building a fuel infrastructure at the airport. The infrastructure will provide a 5% biodiesel blend of fuel to run 366 ground support vehicles starting early next year.

UPS, which just celebrated its 100th anniversary, began deploying alternative fuel vehicles in the 1930s with a fleet of electric trucks that operated in New York City.

(www.ups.com)

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