The number of UPS vehicles running on alternative fuels topped 5,000 last year, according to its 13th Annual Sustainability Report. That’s an increase of 61 per cent over 2013 and follows the addition of 1,100 natural gas vehicles.
According to the report, UPS logged 154 million miles in 2014 toward its goal of driving 1 billion miles with the fleet by the end of 2017 – an almost threefold increase from 2013.
The company said that 5.4 per cent – or 25 million gallons – of its total petrol and diesel purchased in 2014 was displaced with alternative fuels including natural gas, propane, ethanol, biomethane, renewable diesel, and electricity. It expects to reduce its annual use of petrol and diesel by 12 per cent by the end of 2017.
E-commerce drove a 6.8 per cent increase in package volume globally in 2014, but UPS said it emitted fewer greenhouse gas emissions per package, with total carbon emissions growing just 3.3 per cent.