LONG ISLAND, NY-The United States Postal Service fleet (USPS) is testing a two-ton stepvan from Azure Dynamics, announced Azure. The Balance Hybrid Electric vehicle will join USPS' fleet of more than 220,000 vehicles.

The USPS fleet in Long Island, N.Y., will use the Balance Hybrid Electric for twelve months. Delivered by Boyer Ford Truck Sales, the vehicle utilizes Azure Dynamics hybrid electric drive train on the Ford E-450 chassis with a Morgan Olson body.

A key strategy of the Postal Service's Supply Management organization, the Green Purchasing Program incorporates evaluation of "environmentally preferable" products into purchasing decisions - along with price, quality, and delivery standards. The USPS Green Purchasing Program was aided by the recent addition of $130 million in federal stimulus funds and in 2008 spent over $88 million in the acquisition of environmentally preferable products.

"The Postal Service is taking the lead in reducing the environmental footprint that results from visiting every home and business in America every day," said Sam Pulcrano, USPS vice president, Sustainability. "This new vehicle will join 30 other Azure Dynamics pure electric step vans currently delivering mail in Manhattan and the Bronx, as part of a test of alternative fuel technology."