Parcel giants push low emission alternatives

United Parcel Service and FedEx Express, the jet-based subsidiary of FedEx Corp., engaged in a public relations contest recently to show who is more environmentally friendly. Both parcel delivery giants announced projects to put low-emission, fuel-efficient delivery vehicles into their pickup and

On May 19, UPS held a press event in Ann Arbor, Mich., to announce a project to test hydrogen-powered delivery trucks. The company will test the use of hydrogen fuel cells in two different size trucks in, according to a company release, "the first use of fuel cell technology in a commercial delivery fleet in North America."

"It's time to deploy this technology in a commercial fleet and learn exactly what's needed to make it broadly available," said Tom Weidemeyer, chief operating officer of UPS. "These vehicles are going to be rolling laboratories."

DaimlerChrysler is supplying the fuel cells. The UPS vans will refuel at a hydrogen station to be opened and operated by the Environmental Protection Agency at the National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor. The station will be operational by the end of 2003, according to the release.

UPS will add fuel-cell powered Sprinter vans to the test sometime in 2004.

A day later at a press conference in Washington, D.C., FedEx Express introduced a diesel-electric hybrid delivery truck that company spokespersons said could become the standard delivery unit for the company's fleet of 30,000 trucks.

The FedEx OptiFleet E700 truck uses a four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz diesel engine with automated mechanical transmission and electric motor supplied by Eaton Corp. The truck will increase fuel economy by 50 percent while also cutting emissions of particulate matter by 90 percent and nitrogen oxides by 75 percent, said David J. Bronczek, chief executive officer of FedEx Express.

"This hybrid electric truck demonstrates that technology is available now to begin to achieve environmental goals and meet our operational requirements," he said. "The environmental and business gains of this project signal a revolution in truck technology and set a new standard for the industry."

Eaton was one of several companies originally invited to develop a prototype system by FedEx and Environmental Defense, a Boston-based non-profit organization that acts as an intermediary in the project. Allison Transmissions and BAE Systems were also invited.

FedEx has ordered 20 of the E700 diesel-electric hybrid units for delivery by the end of the year. They will be built by Freightliner Custom Chassis, Gaffney, S.C.

The units will be put into service in 20 cities around the country for further testing. If the trucks meet emissions and fuel savings targets, the company may begin introducing them into the fleet of 30,000 vehicles during normal replacement cycles beginning in late 2004.

Several spokespersons from FedEx and Eaton said that economic viability is the key to the success of such vehicles in commercial applications, but also acknowledged that government incentives and tax breaks are critical to support the use of alternative-fuel vehicles at this time.

"Tax incentives will help speed up the technology, but in the end [technology] has to be economically viable," said James E. Sweetnam, an Eaton senior vice president.

FedEx would not release details about the costs of the diesel-electric powertrain, but officials from both FedEx and Eaton said interest by other commercial users for the system could help bring down the costs.