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UPS said it had made substantial progress in deploying new route planning technology that is reducing the number of miles driven by its familiar brown package cars on Oregon's roads, saving fuel and cutting emissions.
The technology, which UPS calls package flow technology, has now been implemented in more than 69 percent of the UPS locations in Oregon. Over the past 48 months, this has shaved roughly 773,400 miles off the normal route structures in Eugene, Springfield, Medford, Tualatin, Corvallis plus Vancouver, Wash., saving nearly 79,000 gallons of fuel and reducing annual CO2 emissions by 815 metric tons. "As a transportation company, fuel is a necessity. But we have the technology now to better conserve fuel and operate more efficiently," said UPS Oregon District Manager K.M. Liu. "And the ability to optimize our business with technology directly helps protect the environment as well." Package flow technology consists of hardware and software that leverages the digital information created when package labels are produced and then scanned repeatedly throughout the UPS system. Consequently, UPS route planners have remarkably detailed visibility and advance knowledge of the packages that will have to be delivered to Washington area homes and businesses the next day. By "pushing" this data into a software program that plans driver routes the night before, UPS can map out routes that require the fewest number of miles to complete. The technology also helps ensure each package goes on the right truck, reducing missed deliveries and thus the need to drive back to an area a second time. "When fully implemented in 2007, UPS estimates it will reduce the 18.5 million miles driven each year in the state of Oregon by more than 1.1 million miles," said Liu. "This will conserve 112,200 gallons of fuel and emit 1,159 fewer metric tons of CO2 annually."
Source: UPS
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