Postal Service Helps Motorists Gear Up for Driving Season

Go Green Stamp Promotes Proper Tire Pressure

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With the largest civilian fleet in the world — more than 214,000 vehicles traveling more than 1.2 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.

"The Postal Service is building a culture of conservation that benefits our workplace and the communities we serve," said Emil Dzuray, acting 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.

These fuel conservation tips are part of a comprehensive strategy USPS is using to meet its goal to reduce vehicle petroleum use 20 percent by 2015.

USPS has been environmentally friendly since 1899 when it tested its first electric vehicle in Buffalo, NY. Today, it operates more than 44,000 alternative fuel-capable mail delivery vehicles across the country, including ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas and electric. Since 2005, USPS has increased its use of alternative fuels 133 percent.

Information about USPS sustainability initiatives can be found at green newsroom and usps.com/green.

The Go Green stamps can be ordered online at usps.com/green.

USPS is the only mailing and shipping company in the world whose stamp products and shipping supplies have earned Cradle to Cradle Certification, meaning they meet established standards for human and environmental health and recyclability.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

We're everywhere so you can be anywhere:  www.uspseverywhere.com.

Please note:  For animation of the Go Green stamps, visit the USPS Broadcast Center at http://uspsvideo.com/.

For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 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 $67 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 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. 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 six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service