UPS recently released the latest edition of its annual Sustainability Report, which said the company had reduced the amount of fuel consumed per package in the United States by 3.3% in 2010. Meanwhile the company’s U.S. package volume rose 1.8% in 2010 compared to 2009.
UPS (NYSE: UPS) managed to deliver more packages for less money in 2010, and attributed the savings to routing technology, telematics, and loading optimization.
UPS has more than 100,000 vehicles on the road worldwide, with drivers logging about two billion miles per year. Fleet management technology enabled the company to avoid driving more than 63.5 million miles in 2010 with an associated emissions avoidance of 68,000 metric tonnes.
UPS estimates that distance is equal to 251,987 trips to the International Space Station .
Telematics supplied the company with data on how each vehicle performed mechanically, as well as on a driver’s route and behavior behind the wheel. According to the report, telematics saved 15.4 million minutes of engine idling time in 2010.
“The data we gather from Telematics enables us to make small adjustments with big payoffs,” said Scott Wicker, chief sustainability officer at UPS. “For example, one of our metrics is ‘stops per mile,’ which measures our ability to deliver more packages with fewer engine restarts. Increasing the number of stops per mile by just 0.01 percent in 2010 was the equivalent of not driving 9.13 million miles.”
The company also uses sophisticated route-planning software in its U.S. small package delivery operation. That saves 3.3 million gallons of fuel, and reduces emissions by more than 31,000 metric tons of CO2. It teaches drivers to do things like reducing left turns – which shaves approximately 29 million miles off UPS delivery routes each year.
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