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Eaton Corporation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today showcased the first-ever hydraulic hybrid diesel urban delivery vehicle. The EPA’s patented hydraulic hybrid diesel technology is achieving a 60 to 70 percent improvement in fuel economy and more than a 40 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in initial laboratory testing of a large UPS truck.

EPA estimates that the technology has the potential to save more than1,000 gallons per year for each urban delivery vehicle. UPS will begin testing the vehicle this year on the road in the Detroit area and then will bring it to Cleveland for additional testing. The vehicle was developed through a partnership between EPA, Eaton, UPS, International Truck and Engine Corporation and the U.S. Army. EPA unveiled the truck in Washington, D.C. in late June.

UPS today said it had made substantial progress in deploying new route planning technology that is reducing the number of miles driven by its familiar brown package cars on Oregon’s roads, saving fuel and cutting emissions.

The technology, which UPS calls package flow technology, has now been implemented in more than 69 percent of the UPS locations in Oregon. Over the past 48 months, this has shaved roughly 773,400 miles off the normal route structures in Eugene, Springfield, Medford, Tualatin, Corvallis plus Vancouver, Wash., saving nearly 79,000 gallons of fuel and reducing annual CO2 emissions by 815 metric tons.

“As a transportation company, fuel is a necessity. But we have the technology now to better conserve fuel and operate more efficiently,” said UPS Oregon District Manager K.M. Liu. “And the ability to optimize our business with technology directly helps protect the environment as well.”