Although Californians take great pride in the green initiatives the state likes to roll out for the sake of Mother Earth, there is still a learning curve with many of the new ordinances. You’ll still hear a few disgruntled shoppers loading their bagless groceries into their cars because they forgot that stores now charge 10 cents for single-use plastic bags. And there are quite a few of us who still break out into a sweat trying to determine if our trash should be deposited into the compostable, recyclable or landfill receptacle.

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As the UPS Archivist, I spend a lot of time researching documents that reveal our history and the stories of our people.

So in my search through the UPS Archives – while looking for something else I might add – I came across this document from 1933 asking for the funds for three new “Gould Batteries for two ton Walker Electric Trucks.”  These new batteries were to replace three “very old and almost useless” batteries in package cars that were serving in New York City at the time.

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Nearly 2,000 strong, UPS has one of the largest private fleets of alternative-fuel vehicles. But some people ask – why not make the entire fleet of UPS trucks alternative fuel?

Good question. Here are some answers:

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Beginning in the 1930s, UPS used electric package cars on the streets of New York City. Much like the company’s efforts today that seek to minimize impact on the environment, use of these vehicles made a lot of business sense in congested Manhattan. They traveled no more than 20 mph, but they didn’t need to go faster. They could operate in heavy traffic economically since they were battery powered and with little wear and tear. But they also didn’t contribute to the city’s pollution. So it was a shared bottom line – good for UPS, and good for the environment. The electric package cars were still in use in Manhattan in the early 1960s. 

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