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I love the state of Oklahoma… it’s clean air, bright blue skies and dozens of lakes. And, it makes me appreciate the many companies in our state who work to keep it that way – like the OERB with its well site restoration program. Or, like the story I read in the Oklahoman today about UPS. Another 100 trucks that run on compressed natural gas are about to hit the streets of Oklahoma City.

Now, the freight delivery company isn’t new to the idea of using CNG to fuel its fleet of trucks. The delivery guy who runs the route in my neighborhood every day drives a CNG truck. But, committing another 100 trucks to our city proves UPS is committed to helping Oklahoma meet clean-air standards. CNG emits 25% less carbon dioxide into the air than traditional fuels. It has almost no particulate matter in the exhaust – and that’s the stuff that hangs around and causes smog.

Delivery trucks like UPS and others are the perfect place to start using CNG on a wide-scale. Because the trucks return to the same place at the end of every business day, it’s easy to install a CNG filling station at the UPS center to refuel each night.

"More than half of the delivery trucks in Oklahoma City now run on compressed natural gas," says Sara Everett , UPS spokeswoman.

You can read more about UPS and its CNG efforts. Here’s the full story from the Oklahoman:

"Oklahoma City’s UPS helps save money, using natural gas trucks"
By Jennifer Palmer
Business Writer
jpalmer@opubco.com

One-hundred new UPS fleet vehicles powered by compressed natural gas are now making deliveries in Oklahoma City.

The Atlanta-based freight delivery company ordered 300 of the vehicles in May and sent one-third of them to Oklahoma City. More than half of the delivery trucks in Oklahoma City now run on compressed natural gas, said Sara Everett , a company spokeswoman.

The natural gas filling station at UPS’s center in Oklahoma City, at 901 S Portland, was upgraded last year and can now refuel a truck in three minutes.
Nationwide, UPS operates a fleet of more than 1,800 alternative fueled vehicles, more than any other private company. The vehicles save money on fuel and maintenance as well as reduce emissions, Everett said.

The company’s signature brown trucks look the same no matter what fuel they use, except for a label on the side that reads: "Low emission natural gas vehicle.”

UPS has been at the forefront of bringing awareness to alternative fueled vehicles, said Yvonne Anderson, clean cities program manger at the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments. She said UPS had agreed to bring more compressed natural gas vehicles to Oklahoma City, but really went "above and beyond” when they sent 100.

"They really deserve a gold star,” she said.

Copyright 2009, The Oklahoma Publishing Company

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