Good morning. My name is Steve Clark. I'm the director of fleet management for Canada Post Corporation. My responsibilities include managing and maintaining Canada Post's growing fleet of over 8,300 road vehicles, ensuring compliance with all provincial and federal regulations, and accounting for all safety, cost, and revenue indices associated with operating the Canada Post fleet.
Before joining Canada Post, I spent 21 years with United Parcel Service, beginning as a fleet mechanic and later advancing through a number of positions, in varying roles and responsibilities within the fleet, both in Canada and the United States. My educational background includes experience in both automotive trades and aircraft ground support maintenance. I am also a member of the Automotive Transportation Service Superintendents Association, which promotes and implements initiatives to enhance maintenance practices within the industry.
Over the years, Canada Post has championed every new mode of transportation, from horse-drawn wagons and stagecoaches, to trains, automobiles, planes, and alternative fuelled vehicles. With the second largest federal fleet in Canada, traveling more than 72 million kilometres a year, and consuming more than 21 million litres of fuel, Canada Post consistently looks for ways to reduce the environmental impact of our fleet.
There is quite a range of alternative fuel and propulsion technologies available on the market today and it's difficult to say with any degree of certainty if any, some, or all of them have a place within our fleet. Canada Post has tested a number of different technologies over the years. Since our earliest foray into their use, we've travelled over 190 million kilometres on alternative fuel and propulsion technologies.
We still continue today using a variety of these alternative fuels, including liquefied propane gas, compressed natural gas, and both hybrid-electric and full battery electric vehicle technology.
As part of our new delivery model, we continue replacing approximately 2,400 vehicles with new fuel-efficient light vehicles and expanding the use of our alternative fuels. We currently have 10 natural gas, 14 electric, 23 hybrid, and 123 propane vehicles operating in our fleet. Canada Post has also made significant investments in compressed natural gas and propane refuelling infrastructure to meet our operational needs, to realize a cost-per-litre savings in comparison to street pricing, and to improve the return on invested capital for alternative fuel and technology conversions.
In 2011, the total number of vehicles in our fleet increased by 6.2%. Even with an increase in fleet size, we managed to reduce our fuel consumption by 3.7% and our CO2 emissions by approximately 4.5%, or 2.4 kilotonnes.
Both Canada Post and Purolator have made considerable investments in researching and testing alternative technologies to reduce the environmental impact of our fleets. In 2012 we have continued to focus on this mandate, with key initiatives in the following areas: the continued introduction of light delivery vehicles, with over a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to the Ford F-150; the continued use of alternative fuels and technologies such as propane, compressed natural gas, gas and diesel-electric hybrids, hydraulic hybrids, and battery-electric vehicles; and participation with international postal administrations on benchmarking electric vehicle opportunities and alternative fuel technologies.
Although there has been great change over time in the makeup of our fleet and operating technologies, one thing that's remained constant is our commitment to acting responsibly toward the environment and the Canadian communities we are proud to serve.
Gaseous fuels, both compressed natural gas and propane, are good alternatives for use in Canada and have many advantages as a motor fuel. Both have fewer toxic and smog-forming air pollutants. It's generally accepted that it takes a hundred 10-year-old trees or 50 mature trees to offset one tonne of greenhouse gas emissions. So, more simply, for every Transit Connect van that Canada Post puts on the street operating on propane as opposed to gasoline, it has the environmental equivalent of planting 56 trees.
Propane is really a made-in-Canada solution. With 80% of Canada's propane supply currently being exported, we could reduce our dependence on foreign oil by converting more vehicles to operate on this fuel. Both propane and natural gas are less expensive than gasoline per equivalent litre. And for fleets, the longer life cycle of custom-built vehicles means the opportunity to travel more kilometres and consume more fuel, which in turn translates into an increased return on invested capital.
Electric vehicles, both pure and hybrid, also boast many advantages. They are energy efficient and environmentally friendly, with pure battery electric vehicles emitting zero tailpipe emissions. They provide quiet, smooth operation and require less maintenance than standard internal combustion gasoline engines. Hybrid electric vehicles, depending upon their duty cycle, can realize up to a 40% fuel economy improvement, up to 30% lower maintenance costs, and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of up to 30%.
Furthermore, in Canada, electricity is a domestic resource and its use for vehicle propulsion can reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
With the evolution and advancements being made in transportation technology, I think it's important to share the following. The continued and increased use of alternative fuels and electric vehicle technologies are of great importance to Canada Post and Purolator. As these technologies enable us to continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our total carbon footprint, they further ensure product development, technology refinement, mass production and, ultimately, volume price and cost improvements of new and advancing technologies, and reduce our overall operating costs.
We currently face barriers that challenge the expanded use of these technologies. The first is that refuelling and recharging infrastructure is limited or non-existent in many parts of the country. Also, regulations associated with the use of gaseous-fuelled vehicles are not consistent; they differ municipally, provincially, and federally. In addition, electric vehicles, both hybrid and pure, are far too costly when compared to conventional gas-powered vehicles and remain ill-suited for most fleet applications.
If the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities were to recommend to the Government of Canada that it offer financial incentives or tax rebates to vehicle owners that would help offset the incremental cost of purchasing or converting vehicles to operate on alternative fuel or electric vehicle technology; and would recommend standardization of regulations across all provinces as they pertain to the use, marking, and inspection of alternative fuelled vehicles; and would recommend or incent fuel companies to provide improved availability of refuelling infrastructure for gaseous fuels, these recommendations would all aid in overcoming the barriers identified and pave the way for the continued and expanded use of these technologies.
Thank you for your time today and for the invitation to speak to the committee.