UPS is putting bicycles with trailers back on the road along the West Coast to save the cost of increasing its truck fleet during the holiday season.

While UPS experimented with going back to its roots in Washington and Oregon in recent years, now the world's largest package delivery business is expanding the use of bikes to 45 routes throughout Northern California.

The bike-trailer set-ups cost UPS about $700 each. Still, using human-powered delivery saves UPS about $45,000 to $50,000 in fuel and maintenance costs by eliminating the need to rent 20 to 25 trucks, reports the San Jose Mercury News.

Saving costs

Last year, UPS told KATU in Portland, Oregon, that the company was saving about $38,000 in fuel and maintenance costs for every three bicycles on the road.

The bikes are used for door-to-door service in dense residential areas or condensed business districts. Truck deliver packages to small stations in these neighborhoods, and the bicyclists grab up to 200 pounds of parcels for each run.

In the Silicon Valley, UPS is using Jamis Commuter bicycles. It used Fuji bikes in the Portland area last year.

As you can probably guess, UPS got its start using bicycles back in 1907 when launched by Jim Casey in Seattle as the American Messenger Service.

The part-timers who handle the deliveries by bicycle make about $10 an hour.