Friday, May. 02, 2008

Right turns deliver gas savings, just ask UPS

Here's how to cut gas costs, help the environment and feel like a UPS driver (minus the brown pants).

Stay out of the left-turn lane.

Drivers for UPS use a route-cutting technology that minimizes left turns. Last year that enabled the company to save 3 million gallons of gas and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32,000 metric tons—the equivalent of taking 5,300 passenger cars off the road for a year.

UPS' route-planning methodology focuses on efficiency and safety, according to Marvin Hill, a manager in the company's industrial engineering department in Chicago.

"In a nutshell, it's a very complex system that plans our dis-patch for

our drivers, the direction they go, the number of streets they go on," said Hill.

In addition to the obvious (i.e., have drivers run through traffic as little as possible), UPS also has found that having trucks sitting in a left-turn lane, engines idling as they wait to turn, wastes their fuel as well as that of vehicles behind them. There's also a safety factor; it's better not to have to turn across oncoming traffic.

So delivery routes are plotted with a series of loops with as few left turns as possible. That's just one idea that any driver can em-ploy. Hill does.

"It's ingrained into me as a UPSer," he said. "Most of the things we do, from a safety stand-point, from an efficiency stand-point, you tend to do in your life."

Other advice from UPS:

- Plan your route. When running errands or going on a trip, consider the best way to get to the locations without backtracking. When taking a long trip, use maps or Internet sites to determine the quickest and most direct route.

- Avoid left turns. UPS routes are designed to avoid left turns. We have learned that idling waiting to turn left wastes gas. Not to mention the cars idling behind you waiting for you to turn. It is also safer to avoid left turns since you reduce the number of times you turn across oncoming traffic.

- Schedule regular car maintenance. Maintaining your car can affect its gas mileage. Just making sure that the tires are properly inflated can save on fuel economy.

- Drive responsibly. Driving style can affect the gas mileage of your vehicle. Making a fast start from a stoplight or driving over the speed limit can reduce fuel economy. UPS practices safe driving and a "no idling" policy - no matter how short of a stop a UPS driver makes, the engine is turned off.

- Reduce the weight in the vehicle. Unnecessary items in the trunk can contribute to lower gas mileage. Eliminate anything you don't need.

- Use the car with the best gas mileage. If you have more than one car, use the one that gets the best gas mileage when making long trips. UPS tries to match its vehicle to the needs of its routes. In some cases, that means deliveries are made by bicycle, particularly if the streets are too congested to pass through easily.