The Impact of Introducing Alternative Fuel Fleets on Private Companies

Fossil fuels will soon be depleted

Photo Credits: LuckyLuke / pixabay.com

UPS, with the largest package delivery fleet that runs on alternative fuels, is being utilized to promote the wide scale use of alternative fuel vehicles. With more than 2,200 alternative fueled vehicles, UPS hopes to have more knowledge about the relatively new technologies to develop various approaches before using them on a larger scale. UPS currently has vehicles that run on CNG, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), fuel cells, hybrids and electricity.

Certainly, the UPS alternative fuel fleet will be monitored by private companies to find out if they can also use alternative fuel vehicles. But how will the alternative fuel fleet impact private package delivery companies?

If successful, the UPS alternative fuel fleet will be able to accelerate the use of alternative fuels by being an effective model of alternative fueled fleets. Placed side by side with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, consuming 36 billion US gallons of renewable fuel annually will be easier to achieve. However, if they prove to be untenable, it will be a major setback as private companies will seek more definitive results from the next possible alternatives that will be tested. Simply put, the “shock effect” of using these alternative fuels will be lost and future alternatives will face stiffer challenges.

It is likely that one day 

charge indicators will 

replace fuel gauges

Photo Credits: LuckyLuke / pixabay.com

Furthermore, the success of the UPS alternative fuel fleet does not guarantee that private companies will immediately implement it. They still have to face one major obstacle – cost.

The initial cost of buying new vehicles will still be a hindrance even with government subsidies. Private companies will still weigh the advantages of using alternative fuel vehicles as opposed to the fossil fuel vehicles that they already have. If they acquire a fossil fueled vehicle today, for example, with current technologies on fuel efficiency and durability, these same vehicles will still be operable by 2022. Alternative fuel vehicles then must have more features that will entice private companies to replace fossil fuel vehicles by 2022.

But one thing about using alternative fuel vehicles is that it projects a good image to people. Acquiring alternative fuel vehicles, even with a higher price, might still be beneficial to companies both inside and out.

Outside of the company, alternative fuel vehicles impart a good company image under the cliché “were helping save the environment.” Because this cliché seems to have an effect on communities that, eventually, makes them support the product a company is promoting, it may be more advantageous for the company to buy them. In this case, green might definitely be in.

Within the company, alternative fuel vehicles may serve as a morale booster to employees. Because employees tend to stay with a company as long as they see that a company is growing, buying alternative fuel vehicles will somehow depict company growth.

In sum, the massive use of alternative fuels in the future will not solely rely on advances in technology. It will also rely on other factors such as social approval and political backing. Parallel efforts by various sectors in promoting its use will still be needed, and new technologies will still have to be discovered.