If it seems like just yesterday that FedEx (FDX) issued a fourth-quarter earnings warning on the basis of rising crude prices, that's because it was. But FedEx's main competition, UPS (UPS: sentiment, chart, options) , is wasting no time in reassuring investors that it's moving away from its own profit-crushing fossil-fuel dependency. The courier company said today that it has ordered 200 hybrid electric vehicles, along with 300 compressed natural gas vehicles, for its U.S. delivery fleet.

According to a company release, this brings UPS's "green fleet" up to 2,218 vehicles. The reduction in carbon emissions from the 200 new hybrids will be roughly equivalent to removing 100 conventional UPS vehicles from the road for a year, says the firm.

In today's trading, UPS shares are fractionally higher despite a downside bias sweeping the broader market. Meanwhile, FDX is down about 1% after Morgan Keegan slashed its rating on the stock from "strong buy" to "hold."