Keep On Truckin?

By Mark Forsythe The Kansas City Post Reported months ago by The Pitch, Kansas City has purchased the midwest's first EV (Electric Vehicle) to be put into full-time service for a municipality. Our own ZAP! truck can be seen running errands around the water treatment plant. Not to be outdone, UPS has gotten in on the act announcing a lease deal of 42 ZAP! cars and trucks for delivery service in and around Petaluma, California. While I kid about UPS following the lead of Kansas City, the article on CNNMoney.com does bring up an intriguing concept. "UPS is setting up strategic distribution nodes where vans can transfer packages to the ZAP Xebras for final delivery in smaller communities, neighborhoods and downtown areas where larger delivery vans are less efficient and have a more difficult time navigating or parking." [Source CNNMoney.com "Brown Goes Green"] How many times in Kansas City have you seen an 18-wheeler blocking traffic while awkwardly trying to negotiate a small entrance? For that matter how many times have you seen a large truck forgoing the driveways and alleyways altogether in favor of just stopping anywhere to make a delivery? It doesn't take a transportation engineer to understand that large trucks are not efficient in dense urban areas. While in London last spring I was struck by the complete absence of large "lorries" in the urban core. Everywhere you looked the day to day commerce was being performed by service vehicles no larger than an American minivan. Even the firetrucks were small, opting for a quick and nimble Mercedes firetruck about 2/3 the size of the trucks we are used to seeing in the US. So why has UPS made the move to electric vehicles (EV's)? If we're to believe officials from ZAP! it's because of logistic advantages as well as cost savings of smaller, electric vehicles. But if that's the case, then why isn't UPS employing this strategy across North America instead of just Petaluma? The answer is indeed for economic reasons, just not the ones ZAP! is touting. California has the most aggressive environmental policies in the country. With each passing year the golden state's rules on carbon emissions become more strict, and its municipalities are getting in on the act as well by tightening regulations even further then state mandates. UPS is simply positioning itself for the inevitable, and by doing so is gaining a competitive advantage. Once regulations reach a point where EV's are mandated, UPS will be at a competitive advantage already having the infrastructure in place for a regional delivery system. Kansas City should become more aggressive with restricting large commercial vehicle traffic in certain areas. The net positive effects would be less wear and tear on streets not designed to handle 70,000 lb vehicles, less interruption of traffic flow by not having 18 wheel trucks attempting to maneuver in standard streets and perhaps a gentle nudge to corporations to become better environmental citizens by using smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles to do the job.