UPS Goes Green by Using Software to Avoid Left Turns
December 12, 2007 – 5:32 pmUPS is reportedly testing a new software that allows its drivers to avoid left turns in an effort to save fuel and reduce expenses, according to a recent report in The New York Times.
The company employs what it calls a “package flow” software program, which among other hyper-efficient practices involving the packing and sorting of its cargo, maps out routes for every one of its drivers, drastically reducing the number of left-hand turns they make (taking into consideration, of course, those instances where not to make the left-hand turn would result in a ridiculously circuitous route).
Last year, according to Heather Robinson, a U.P.S. spokeswoman, the software helped the company shave 28.5 million miles off its delivery routes, which has resulted in savings of roughly three million gallons of gas and has reduced CO2 emissions by 31,000 metric tons.
This actually is an idea that the rest of us could apply to some of our driving habits as well, according to other reports.