Express and postal operators, including DHL, TNT, UPS, Chronopost and Canada Post, have rolled outmore environmentally-friendly vehicles around the world in continued efforts to reduce emissions
and cut down their fuel bills.In Asia, UPS yesterday launched its first Asian hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) in Hong Kongand will introduce two more in the city by the end of the year. UPS has a global green fleet ofover 1,900 vehicles.
“Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world and air quality hasalways been a matter of concern for local residents,” said William Ng, managing director of UPS inHong Kong and Macau. “With the introduction of the hybrid-electric vehicles in Hong Kong, this willfurther our efforts to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions while continuing to serve ourcustomers’ needs and support their green initiatives.”
Since their introduction into the global UPS fleet in 1998, HEVs have shown a 35 per centimprovement in fuel economy over conventional vehicles. The expansion of alternative fuel vehicles(AFV) is in line with UPS’s commitment to sustainable and environmentally-friendly businesspractices in the market.In 2010, UPS was the first logistics provider in Hong Kong to offer acarbon neutral product which allows customers to offset their carbon footprint through a nominalfee.
“As a company, UPS is committed to our sustainability efforts. In our daily operations, wetrack key performance indicators to measure our level of efficiency which promotes conservation ofboth fuel and energy.The new hybrid-electric vehicles in Hong Kong, in addition to our employeevolunteer activities and community involvement, demonstrates the strategic importance ofsustainability,” said Brian Cusson, President of UPS North Asia District.
In Europe, TNT Express started using a COMS electric vehicle for city centre deliveries inThe Hague at the end of March in a test scheme with the Louwman Group, a leading Dutch automotivegroup. The COMS is allowed to use the bike lanes in the Netherlands, making its deployment moreversatile. It has a payload of 100kg, achieves a maximum speed of 45 km / h and has a reach ofabout 50 kilometres.
In France, where laws are driving commercial operators to introduce moreenvironmentally-friendly vehicles in cities, DHL Express is now using alternative transport meansin seven cities, Lyon, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Rennes, Nice, Montpellier and Orléans. The three latestcities to be added were Nice, Montpellier and Orléans. In 2010, the company transported about63,000 consignments with its French ‘green fleet’ of electric vans and tricycles, which coveredmore than 62,000km and thus saved more than 15 tonnes of emissions.
Rival Chronopost introduced an electrically-powered tricycle in the eastern city of Metz atthe start of this month for small parcel deliveries. The ‘Chrono Bike’ covers about 10km a day andsaves 985kgs of CO2 emissions a year. The La Poste express subsidiary currently operates 43environmentally-friendly vehicles, including nine Chrono Vans, under its Chrono City concept fornon-polluting city centre deliveries, and can deliver some 766,000 parcels a year via its greenfleet.
In North America, Canada Post recently added the country’s first all-electric step vans toits fleet. The corporation showcased the first of four all-electric commercial vehicles built byNavistar Inc., an American manufacturer of medium and heavy trucks. The eStar, a Class 2c-3electric truck and the first in its category, has a range of 160 kilometres per charge and can befully recharged within 6 to 8 hours. With zero tailpipe emissions, each eStar truck can reducegreenhouse gas emissions by as much as 10 tons annually. The windshield design provides nearly180-degree visibility, the low-floor design allows easy loading/unloading and the noise level isnearly non-existent.
“Part of our environmental commitment is to evaluate and proceed with alternate fueltechnologies that will offer us a return on investment,” said Deepak Chopra, Canada Post Presidentand CEO. “Our trucks are in every neighbourhood in the country everyday and we take pride in ourefforts to deliver to our customers in an environmentally responsible way.”
