UPS Sees 40% Savings by Switching Long-Haul Fleet to Natural Gas

United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS:US), the world’s largest package-delivery company, said it can save 40 percent in fuel costs by running its long-haul semi-tractor trailer fleet on natural gas instead of gasoline or diesel.

UPS is reducing gasoline and diesel use to cut emissions and operate more efficiently, Scott Wicker, the Atlanta-based company’s chief sustainability officer, said in an interview today. The company wants to reach 1 billion miles (1.62 billion kilometers) driven by alternative or advanced-technology vehicles by 2017, up from a previous target of around 400 million, it said today in its sustainability report.

“It’s really the vehicles that are on the freeways that burn the most fuel,” Wicker said. “Right now natural gas is the big game changer.”

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Original post on Bloomberg Business Week.