Through a collaboration with the Postal Service, a highway contract route supplier recently switched from diesel gas to compressed natural gas, a cleaner fuel.
The Arkansas-based company, Pat Salmon and Sons Inc., operates 4 million miles annually in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. USPS negotiated with the trucking firm to convert 27 tractors to compressed natural gas — lowering emissions and offsetting equipment and transportation costs.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the conversion will result in a savings of 5,593 metric tons of carbon per year — equal to taking roughly 1,200 passenger cars off the road annually.
“This conversion aligns with the Postal Service’s strategic initiative to improve sustainability and reduce greenhouse emissions in order to improve our overall carbon footprint,” Supply Management VP Susan Brownell said. “As our delivery points increase each year, this remains a top priority at the Postal Service.”
Supply Management is continuing to seek ways to increase the number of alternative fuel vehicles in the contract fleet without increasing operating costs.
Since 2013, Supply Management’s Surface Transportation Category Management Center has worked with 19 highway contract route suppliers to convert 270 vehicles to alternative fuel for the operation of more than 24 million “green miles” annually.