UPS hopes lighter trucks deliver on fuel efficiency
For as many times as it has tested electric, hydraulic and electric hybrid and other alternative powertrains for its trucks, UPS runs into the same issues of complexity and cost. Now it's trying a simpler route to fuel savings that may prove to be the key to
The delivery giant is testing a pilot fleet of five trucks made from lightweight composite materials. They are about 1,000 pounds, or 10%, lighter than today's familiar brown truck — called "package cars" by UPS — which is built to UPS specs by multiple makers.
Because they weigh less, they can have smaller diesel engines that save 40% on fuel use — without the complexity of high-tech batteries, hybrid systems or other advanced technology issues that can run up total costs.
"This technology is available to us today," says Dale Spencer, UPS' director of engineering. "We don't have to worry about plugging it in or getting propane or CNG (compressed natural gas)."
The test trucks were built by Indiana company Utilimaster using a chassis and 150-horsepower clean-diesel engine from Japan's Isuzu. To cut weight, it has body panels made from composites. Even though composites can be costly, UPS says it thinks the price for the trucks will be competitive.
The fuel savings don't come entirely from the lower weight and smaller engine. Breaking the traditional look of a UPS package truck, the CV-23, as the prototypes are called, is 13% more aerodynamic than other trucks in the class, Utilimaster says.
The prototype truck is slightly smaller than the UPS mainstay, and the maximum payload is 4,200 pounds vs. 4,800 pounds today. But Spencer notes that more packages these days are smaller and lighter, as the mix shifts from bulkier business-to-business shipments to more consumer goods that people have ordered online.
UPS is testing the trucks through December in Lincoln, Neb.; Albany, N.Y.; Flint, Mich.; Roswell, Ga.; and Tucson. Rival FedEx is testing some, too.
Isuzu, which maintains a vigorous truck operation in the U.S. even though it no longer sells cars here, saw an opportunity to trump hybrids by applying common sense. Isuzu has used the tough little diesel elsewhere in the world but didn't consider it for the U.S. until fuel-economy concerns became paramount.
"We took a new direction and brought a new diesel engine to the (U.S.) marketplace," says Brian Tabel, retail marketing manager for Isuzu Commercial Truck of America. "We didn't think people were going to be able to afford a hybrid or electric vehicle."
