The United States Postal Service has added Azure Dynamics Corporation'sBalance(TM) Hybrid Electric vehicle to its fleet.
The USPS operates the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world with more than 220,000 vehicles traveling more than 1.2 billion miles a year. USPS consistently looks for opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet while also lowering operating cost, and is testing the Azure product to advance both efforts.
"USPS is the only federal agency with a dedicated Office of Sustainability," says Scott Harrison, Azure Dynamics CEO. "The organization has demonstrated its strong commitment to sustainability by publicly stating its goal of decreasing petroleum usage by 20 percent over the next five years while also lessening its environmental impact. Our Azure Balance Hybrid Electric can be instrumental in helping USPS achieve these goals."
The Azure product, a Balance Hybrid Electric two-ton step van, will actively participate in the USPS fleet in Long Island, N.Y., for a 12-month pilot program. The vehicle utilizes Azure Dynamics hybrid electric drive train on the Ford E-450 chassis with a Morgan Olson body. Boyer Ford Truck Sales delivered the vehicle.
A key strategy of the Postal Service's Supply Management organization, the Green Purchasing Program incorporates evaluation of "environmentally preferable" products into purchasing decisions-along with price, quality and delivery standards. The USPS Green Purchasing Program was aided by the recent addition of $130 million in federal stimulus funds and in 2008 spent over $88 million in the acquisition of environmentally preferable products.
"The Postal Service is taking the lead in reducing the environmental footprint that results from visiting every home and business in America every day," says Sam Pulcrano, USPS vice president, sustainability. "This new vehicle will join 30 other Azure Dynamics pure electric step vans currently delivering mail in Manhattan and the Bronx, as part of a test of alternative fuel technology."
"Azure technology is proven to offer significant cost and environmental efficiencies for the commercial delivery truck market. Continuing our work with the agency that delivers nearly half of all the world's mail remains an important opportunity for Azure," says Curt Huston, Azure Dynamics Chief Operating Officer. "Our family of innovative hybrid electric products can improve fuel economy by up to 40 percent, save 30 percent on maintenance costs and reduce greenhouse emissions by 30 percent. We know our product will help the USPS fleet to achieve its aggressive sustainability goals while also providing the dependability that has been a hallmark of USPS for more than 200 years."'
For more information about Azure Dynamics and its products, please visit www.azuredynamics.com.
