UPS eliminating left turns

[Miramonti]

Seems like the right thing to do.


/ripped from slash

 

[nakedfrog]

Interesting.
I wonder if they'll start sucking less now.
I doubt it.
How will this affect tire wear/rotation?

 

[pontifex]

i guess it isn't possible to have a thread about UPS without saying they suck, eh?

 

[amdskip]

They still suck.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Wow....kinda cool article. It makes me wonder how they intend to enforce it. I vote they make the steering wheels only turn in one direction.

 

[Xavier434]

Neat

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Wow....kinda cool article. It makes me wonder how they intend to enforce it. I vote they make the steering wheels only turn in one direction.

Err... they're not eliminating them entirely, just reducing them. They don't need to enforce it really, because the route that they plan would be faster than an alternative route - so the driver would want to take that route.

 

[K1052]

Perhaps with these savings they can eliminate the machine that seeks out fragile shipments and compacts them by 50% in a 20-ton hydraulic press.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: pontifex
i guess it isn't possible to have a thread about UPS without saying they suck, eh?

No, it wouldn't be a UPS thread without it. The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can quit bitching about it

PS - I hate UPS.

 

[Miramonti]

I find the idea of the whole thing fascinating. Its such a simple concept but has been overlooked for ages, probably because implementation wasn't feasible until recently. It will be interesting to learn how much impact it has on reducing expenses.

 

[Miramonti]

I love UPS.

They've *never* let me down in any significant way, so why shouldn't I. That's not why I started the thread but it is what it is.

 

[purbeast0]

i don't understand how eliminating left turns will save them miles traveled.

i mean in general, if you were to take a left turn, it would be one turn.

but if you were to get to that same intersection by making only right turns, that would mean you have to take 3 additional right turns after driving through the intersection.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i don't understand how eliminating left turns will save them miles traveled.

i mean in general, if you were to take a left turn, it would be one turn.

but if you were to get to that same intersection by making only right turns, that would mean you have to take 3 additional right turns after driving through the intersection.

It theoretically will save them time/gas from stopping at lights. Maybe the software they are using has the drivers cutting thru corner gas stations instead.

 

[sierrita]

Why does the writer keep referring to "left-hand" turns?

Doesn't "left turns" suffice?

 

[Specop 007]

Jeebus!

"The company employs what it calls a ?package flow? software program, which among other hyperefficient 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"

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i don't understand how eliminating left turns will save them miles traveled.

i mean in general, if you were to take a left turn, it would be one turn.

but if you were to get to that same intersection by making only right turns, that would mean you have to take 3 additional right turns after driving through the intersection.

It won't save them miles traveled, but it will save them time spent sitting at lights wasting gas idling. You're thinking of it as a route from point A to point B, but for them it is a route that hits points A, B, C, D, E, F ..., Z, etc in no particular order. The no left turn route would reorder the stops to avoid left turns.

I've heard that 2 minutes idling uses about as much gas as driving one mile (obviously that will vary a LOT). They could make the route slightly longer but take less time and use less gas.

You probably do the same thing when you're driving to multiple places in no particular order. I know I do. I think about traffic bottlenecks and even left turns and try to figure out the best route.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: jjsole
I find the idea of the whole thing fascinating. Its such a simple concept but has been overlooked for ages, probably because implementation wasn't feasible until recently. It will be interesting to learn how much impact it has on reducing expenses.

Uh....hasn't the post office been doing this for a long time? I know a few weeks ago I read that they have been doing that to save gas and speed up the route.

 

[Codewiz]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i don't understand how eliminating left turns will save them miles traveled.

i mean in general, if you were to take a left turn, it would be one turn.

but if you were to get to that same intersection by making only right turns, that would mean you have to take 3 additional right turns after driving through the intersection.

Very simple, the software takes every address off every package. Calculates the most efficient path for delivery without making left turns.

This way, the truck is not sitting at lights trying to make a left. So in the end, the driver may drive 2-3 extra miles but most likely will save time and gas from a lack of sitting around in traffic all day.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Originally posted by: mugs
It won't save them miles traveled, but it will save them time spent sitting at lights wasting gas idling. You're thinking of it as a route from point A to point B, but for them it is a route that hits points A, B, C, D, E, F ..., Z, etc in no particular order. The no left turn route would reorder the stops to avoid left turns.

TSP

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Codewiz

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i don't understand how eliminating left turns will save them miles traveled.

i mean in general, if you were to take a left turn, it would be one turn.

but if you were to get to that same intersection by making only right turns, that would mean you have to take 3 additional right turns after driving through the intersection.

Very simple, the software takes every address off every package. Calculates the most efficient path for delivery without making left turns.

This way, the truck is not sitting at lights trying to make a left. So in the end, the driver may drive 2-3 extra miles but most likely will save time and gas from a lack of sitting around in traffic all day.

And they're not even eliminating them entirely, just trying to avoid them when it makes the route faster. It's a travelling salesman problem, and they're just adding in the time to turn left when they search for the fastest route.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Codewiz

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i don't understand how eliminating left turns will save them miles traveled.

i mean in general, if you were to take a left turn, it would be one turn.

but if you were to get to that same intersection by making only right turns, that would mean you have to take 3 additional right turns after driving through the intersection.

Very simple, the software takes every address off every package. Calculates the most efficient path for delivery without making left turns.

This way, the truck is not sitting at lights trying to make a left. So in the end, the driver may drive 2-3 extra miles but most likely will save time and gas from a lack of sitting around in traffic all day.

Yea but the thing is in the article it said they shaved off 28.5 million miles on delivery routes last year.

but I guess that was running another type of algorithm.

 

[Furyline]

New UPS vice president of delivery routes: pic

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: sierrita
Why does the writer keep referring to "left-hand" turns?

Doesn't "left turns" suffice?

It will no doubt still seem redundant to you, but if refers to the hands of the driver of the vehicle, and harkens back to the day before turn signals, when a left turn was signified by a driver with his left hand pointing out of the driver's side window.

Next up: Why do they call it dial up internet when most phones even by that time were push button?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Codewiz

Originally posted by: purbeast0
i don't understand how eliminating left turns will save them miles traveled.

i mean in general, if you were to take a left turn, it would be one turn.

but if you were to get to that same intersection by making only right turns, that would mean you have to take 3 additional right turns after driving through the intersection.

Very simple, the software takes every address off every package. Calculates the most efficient path for delivery without making left turns.

This way, the truck is not sitting at lights trying to make a left. So in the end, the driver may drive 2-3 extra miles but most likely will save time and gas from a lack of sitting around in traffic all day.

Yea but the thing is in the article it said they shaved off 28.5 million miles on delivery routes last year.

but I guess that was running another type of algorithm.

Yeah, that part of the article was just talking about their route-finding/efficiency system in general. This is an enhancement to that existing system which will likely add miles to delivery routes but reduce gasoline usage.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: PingSpike

Originally posted by: jjsole
I find the idea of the whole thing fascinating. Its such a simple concept but has been overlooked for ages, probably because implementation wasn't feasible until recently. It will be interesting to learn how much impact it has on reducing expenses.

Uh....hasn't the post office been doing this for a long time? I know a few weeks ago I read that they have been doing that to save gas and speed up the route.

I have no idea if that's the case. Honestly if the usps implemented something like this before 2050, I'd be stunned and speechless.