Email to a friend | Print article | RSS

UPS takes left turns out of deliveries

NPR reports on UPS's new route to increased efficiency

The Need for Speed
 

Business 411
Under a special private-public partnership, UPS is testing an experimental hydraulic hybrid vehicle that uses 70 percent less fuel. Hear how this ingenious technology works in an August 2006 NPR report.
Tell My Story Want to see your business featured in Compass? Tell us about it.
Submit your story
The most efficient way to deliver a package, it turns out, is simple: just make the right turns.

After several years of refinement, UPS is rolling out its new package flow technologies nationally to improve efficiency. One method currently being piloted in California uses special software to plan delivery routes with the fewest left turns possible. That's because time spent in left-turn lanes leads to more engine idling, fuel consumption and traffic delays. The new route-mapping has even reduced delivery mileage and the risk of accidents.

To hear the full story of how UPS planning is taking a turn for the better, listen to the Jan. 24 National Public Radio report UPS Takes Left Turns Out of Deliveries.

Also of Interest:

Brown deeply rooted in going green
Eco-friendly options from UPS and The UPS Store