UPS express delivery is testing plastic vans

Looking to reduce its spending on fuel (a significant spending, given the huge size of the UPS fleet), the company has bought over the years, for tests, all sorts of alternative powered vehicles. However, none of them comes even close to what UPS is testing right now. The new truck, a CV-23 Reach, features no revolutionary engine, nor is it electric. Still, it is made of ABS plastic, a material that cuts the weight of the trucks significantly.

More precisely, the new trucks are 1,000 pounds lighter than standard version. This means two important things. First, you can fit a smaller engine on it, as the bigger unit would be a waste when used to push a lighter truck, and secondly, the reduced engine and weight allow for a 40 percent reduction in fuel consumption. And that, without buying the expensive hybrid and electric conversions currently on the market. Five such vehicles, supplied by Utilimaster and Isuzu, will be deployed this year for testing purposes. UPS calls them, humorously, Car Trek III.