With the largest civilian fleet in the world — nearly 214,000 vehicles traveling
nearly 1.3 billion miles each year — the U.S. Postal Service knows a lot about vehicles and tire
pressure. Summer driving season is approaching and the Maintain Tire
Pressure postage stamp helps remind motorists that proper tire pressure can
help improve gas mileage. It's one of the 16 Go Green Forever stamps
issued by USPS.
Postal Service Helps Motorists Gear Up for Driving Season. Go Green Forever Stamp Promotes Proper Tire Pressure. Image Credit: (PRNewsFoto/U.S. Postal Service)
"The Postal Service is building a culture of conservation that benefits our
workplace and the communities we serve," said Thomas G. Day, chief
sustainability officer. "We believe the tried and true tips our letter carriers
use to conserve fuel when delivering mail can also help motorists during summer
driving season, and year round."
Fuel conservation tips:
- Use air to save fuel — Underinflated tires can increase fuel consumption by
as much as 4 percent and lead to excessive tire wear. Properly inflated tires
are safer and last longer.
- Don't idle — Idling uses at least a half gallon of fuel per hour and
releases excess carbon dioxide and other pollutants into the
atmosphere.
- Drive the speed limit — Speeding is dangerous and, at highway speeds, fuel
economy drops for every one mile per hour driven over the speed limit.
- Make gradual starts and stops — Quick accelerations consume more fuel than
gradual starts.
USPS has been environmentally friendly since 1899 when it tested its first
electric vehicle in Buffalo, NY. Today, it operates nearly 41,000 alternative
fuel-capable mail delivery vehicles across the country, including ethanol,
biodiesel, compressed natural gas and electric. Between 2005 and 2011, USPS has
increased its use of alternative fuels 128 percent.
The Postal Service has won numerous environmental honors, including the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) WasteWise Partner of the Year award in
2010 and 2011, the EPA's National Partnership for Environmental Priorities award
in 2011 and the Climate Registry Gold award in 2011.
USPS is the first federal agency to publicly report its greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions and receive third-party verification of the results. For more
information about the Postal Service's sustainability initiatives and the Go
Green Forever stamps, visit usps.com/green
and the usps
green newsroom.
USPS participates in the International Post
Corporation's Environmental
Measurement and Monitoring System, the global postal industry's program
to reduce its carbon footprint 20 percent by 2020 based on an FY 2008
baseline.
The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies
on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only
delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 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 $65 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 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, the U.S.
Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the
top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. 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 for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in
the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
Source: PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1cLPJ)