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Delivering Clean Air in Denver: Propane Trucks and Infrastructure in Mail Delivery Application

This project purchases and deploys five propane-powered delivery trucks along with propane fueling infrastructure in the metro Denver area. The trucks are Ford's Class 7 (F-750) straight box trucks with Roush CleanTech's ultra-low (.02) NOx 7.3L V8 propane engines, commercially available across the United States, and certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB). The demonstration fleet, Hi-Pro, Inc., is located in Commerce City, a close suburb of Denver. This fleet moves mail from the United States Postal Service (USPS) main hub to the individual post offices daily. Hi-Pro, Inc., has a fleet of 35 vehicles in Colorado; five diesel trucks are being replaced by the trucks purchased as part of this project. By demonstrating the advantages of propane as a clean and cost-effective alternative to diesel and its viability in the test fleet, the project shares data, best practices, and lessons learned to catalyze other fleets nationwide to adopt propane trucks for mail delivery (and other applications). By reducing the risk of first adoption, the potential exists to transform the USPS mail delivery system into a low-carbon national fleet.

For more information on this project, check the Technology Integration 2021 Annual Report or Annual Merit Review presentation.

Learn more about the 2020 Innovative Vehicle Technologies Projects.