July 13th, 2009

Long a leader in sustainable practices, the Postal Service has been honored with more than 70 major environmental awards, including 40 White House Closing the Circle awards for environmental stewardship and the 2009 Climate Change Champion of the Year Award for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Throughout its history, the U.S. Postal Service has championed every new mode of transportation in its ongoing effort to provide prompt, reliable mail delivery. From horse-drawn wagons to alternative fuel vehicles, the Postal Service has taken steps to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet, including:

• Delivering mail on a trial basis using three-wheel (T3) electric vehicles in Florida, California and Arizona. The T3 is powered by two rechargeable batteries, has zero gas emissions and costs 4 cents a mile to operate.
• Testing two fourth generation fuel-cell Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, which are delivering mail in Irvine, CA, and in Washington, DC.
• Using 35 delivery vehicles in Florida that run on propane fuel.
• Running 300 vehicles nationwide that are powered by biodiesel fuel.

And the Postal Service delivers mail the most energy efficient way possible: it’s walked. This “fleet of feet” delivers mail door-to-door and neighbor-to neighbor by walking almost 10,000 mail delivery routes a day.