Large Vehicle Fleets Powered by Alternative Fuel

US President George W. Bush outlined in his State of the
Union Address his administrations aim to reduce the
countrys dependency on foreign oil. The Twenty in Ten,
essentially reducing gasoline consumption by twenty percent
in ten years time, has received the support of the Big Three
as the heads of General Motors, the Ford Motor Company and
Chrysler Corp. attended a meeting with the President
recently.

Good news for the administration is the use of alternative
fuels by large vehicle fleets. The President inspected the
alternative fuel vehicles used by large fleets in the United
States.

Among the largest fleet in the country using fuel efficient
vehicles are the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, UPS, and the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. These large
fleets are contributing to the countrys energy independence
by using different types of alternative fuel vehicles on
their fleet. These fleets use a variety of alternative fuel
vehicles which includes hybrid electric vehicles, biodiesel
engines, compressed natural gas or CNG, liquefied natural
gas, propane, and hydrogen fuel cell units.

All these technologies are known to be good substitute to
gasoline since they all come from renewable sources and have
limited greenhouse gas emissions as when compared to
petroleum gasoline or diesel fuel.

Among the large fleets in America, the U.S. Postal Service
has the largest number of alternative fuel vehicles being
used. The 13 percent of the 289,000 vehicles in the fleet
represents the biggest fleet of alternative fuel vehicles in
the world. Hybrids, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, and
hydrogen fuel cell vehicles composed thirteen percent of the
U.S. Postal Services fleet.

UPS, meanwhile, has the biggest alternative fuel fleet in
its class with over 1,500 alternative fuel vehicles. Its
alternative fuel vehicle fleet is composed of compressed
natural gas, liquefied natural gas, propane, hydrogen fuel
cell, and hybrid electric vehicles.

FedEx operates about a hundred hybrid electric diesel
vehicles in its alternative fuel vehicle fleet. The
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority or METRO,
like FedEx, also takes advantage of the hybrid electric
diesel technology. It has already 50 units of alternative
fuel vehicles on the road and being used as part of their
service.

These large fleets clearly support the Clean Cities Program
which promotes the use of alternative fuel vehicles to
reduce gasoline consumption. The program is in connection
with President Bushs Twenty in Ten goal. The vehicles
used by these fleets are as reliable and safe as Volvo S60
parts and at the same time provides the fleet operators good
fuel economy.

The production of greenhouse gases is also reduced thereby
lessening the negative impact of their fleets on the
environment. With the plug-in hybrid still in development,
these fleets have the potential to even expand their
alternative fuel vehicle fleet.

Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an
automotive firm based in Detroit, Mi. she is a native of
the motor city and grew up around cars hence her expertise
in the automotive field. Please visit Volvo S60 parts for
more information.