Skip to main content

FedEx closes in on vehicle fleet fuel efficiency goal years ahead of schedule

FedEx Express says it has made significant progress towards its goal to make its vehicle fleet 20 per cent more fuel efficient by 2020, and announced that its vehicle fleet is now 16.6 per cent more fuel efficient through FY2011 than it was in 2005. Twenty per cent of the FedEx Express diesel vehicle pickup and delivery fleet has already been converted to more efficient and cleaner emission models that comply with 2010 US Environmental Protection Agency diesel emission standards.
May 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
RSS756 FedEx Express says it has made significant progress towards its goal to make its vehicle fleet 20 per cent more fuel efficient by 2020, and announced that its vehicle fleet is now 16.6 per cent more fuel efficient through FY2011 than it was in 2005. Twenty per cent of the FedEx Express diesel vehicle pickup and delivery fleet has already been converted to more efficient and cleaner emission models that comply with 2010 US 1999 Environmental Protection Agency diesel emission standards.

“Although we are less than halfway to the end date we set for ourselves, we have achieved 80 per cent of our vehicle fuel efficiency goal as of the conclusion of fiscal year 2011, compared to our original baseline set in 2005,” said Mitch Jackson, staff vice president of environmental affairs and sustainability, FedEx Corporation. “As a result, we are re-evaluating our 2020 goal to potentially raise the standard we originally set out to achieve.”

The company says its significant progress is the result of a number of initiatives including acceleration of its efforts in fuel conservation through the purchase of vehicles with right-sized engines like the Sprinter vans manufactured by Mercedes-Benz. By the end of FY13, FedEx will have more than 11,000 such vehicles in service, more than 35 per cent of its US pick-up and delivery fleet. Each Sprinter-type van is about 70 to 100 per cent more fuel-efficient than the original truck it replaces. The company will shortly add another 87 all-electric trucks to its green fleet bringing the count to 130, and has added 114 Reach composite-body trucks manufactured from advanced materials by Utilimaster on an Isuzu Motors chassis with an appropriately-sized engine. The lower weight design, along with the engine, is expected to save up to 35 per cent in fuel over most conventional walk-in vans.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Sustainable mobility model
    January 27, 2012
    It is only in the last couple of years that the viability of all-electric vehicles for day to day transport has begun to be recognised. Back in 2000, that was not the case, certainly in Italy, where a few pilot projects involving EVs were carried out with negative results. It is against this background, that the innovative Reggio Emilia eco-rental experience must be assessed.
  • Sustainable mobility model
    February 6, 2012
    It is only in the last couple of years that the viability of all-electric vehicles for day to day transport has begun to be recognised. Back in 2000, that was not the case, certainly in Italy, where a few pilot projects involving EVs were carried out with negative results. It is against this background, that the innovative Reggio Emilia eco-rental experience must be assessed.
  • Liberty Electric Cars participates in ‘Deliver’ project
    April 27, 2012
    Liberty Electric Cars has been selected to become one of the major partners of the project thanks to its extensive experience in electric commercial vehicle engineering and design. Its team of experts played a crucial role in the development of the Modec truck, a range of 5.5t commercial vehicles that have been sold to a wide variety of customers across Europe. Operators of the Modec truck include global companies like FedEx, UPS, Tesco’s and Veolia. Their unique team of engineers have created EVs that have
  • Euro NCAP to drive adoption of AEB systems for safer cars in Europe
    June 14, 2012
    Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme) has published the results of its survey on the availability of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems in Europe and reveals that its vehicle safety rating assessment programme will include AEB technologies in its star rating from 2014. Real world performance data suggests AEB systems can reduce accidents by up to 27 per cent. Although the introduction of these active safety technologies is reducing road deaths and injuries, the availability of AEB in Europe is fa