CORPUS CHRISTI, TX – In conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service release of “Go Green” stamps, the Corpus Christi Post Office today recognized the City of Corpus Christi's Gas Department for their partnership with the Corpus Christi Post Office in establishing compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations at several Corpus Christi Postal Stations. As a result, the local Post Office has converted 50 regular gasoline fueled delivery vehicles to use CNG.
CNG engines produce 25 percent less carbon dioxide than regular gasoline engines and reduce carbon monoxide emissions by approximately 95 percent. CNG fuel also costs the Postal Service more than half of what it pays for regular gasoline, resulting in a significant savings in local mail delivery costs.
Compressed Natural Gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel. It produces almost no carbon monoxide, no sulfur oxides, and little particulate matter. Nationally, the Postal Service has converted more than 4,317 of its gasoline-powered delivery vehicles into CNG bi-fuel vehicles. Fifty-four CNG large trucks are also part of the Postal Service's fleet.
Throughout history, the U.S. Postal Service has championed every new mode of transportation in its ongoing effort to provide prompt, reliable, universal mail delivery. From horse-drawn wagons and stage coaches, to trans, automobiles, planes and alternative fuel vehicles, the Postal Service has been at the cutting edge of transportation. Now, with the largest civilian fleet in the world -- nearly 216,000 vehicles traveling more than 1.2 billion miles a year -- the Postal Service consistently looks for ways to reduce the environmental impact of its fleet.
The Postal Service has more than 44,000 alternative fuel-capable vehicles. These vehicles use electricity, ethanol, CNG, liquid propane, bio-diesel and hydrogen fuel cell. Since 2005, the Postal Service's use of alternative fuels has increased 133 percent.
Mail also is delivered the most energy efficient way possible; it's walked. This "fleet of feet" delivers mail door-to-door and neighbor-to-neighbor by walking nearly 9,000 mail delivery routes every day. The Postal Service also has nearly 80,000 "park and loop" routes, where letter carriers deliver the mail on foot after driving to neighborhoods.
The Corpus Christi Post Office's Portairs, and Flour Bluff stations now use CNG fuel vehicles as part of their delivery fleet. The Portairs Station, the first office to establish a CNG fueling station, reduced fuel costs by approximately 60 percent between March 2010 and March 2011. The Flour Bluff Station, which established a CNG fueling station in March (2011), saved about 85 percent in fuel cost over the prior month (Feb. 2011), With continued support from the City of Corpus Christi Gas Department, the Postal Service expects to add more CNG fueling stations at other Corpus Christi Post Office station locations and increase the number of CNG fuel vehicles by the end of this year.
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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
