UPS Invests $1 Billion to go Green

United Parcel Service (UPS) will make about US$1 billion in technology investments this year to improve the efficiency of its operations, with the goal of cutting billions more from its costs over the long term, company executives said Tuesday. One of its main goals is to improve the speed and efficiency of its delivery operations. To achieve that, UPS is equipping its vans with sensors that allow it to collect data about things like fuel consumption, chosen routes and how much time its engines spend idling, said Dave Barnes, chief information officer at UPS, at the company's Green Tech Forum in New York this week. Reducing fuel consumption will help UPS not only to cut costs but also be more environmentally responsible. A big portion of the company's costs comes from transporting packages by air. In fact, UPS is the world's ninth-largest airline, so it is trying to conserve aircraft fuel as well, by lowering flight speeds and better planning to avoid duplication of routes. But a lot of fuel is also burned by its trucks, and the sensors and telematics being implemented there could save the company millions of dollars, Barnes said. UPS is installing around 200 sensors in its vehicles, in places like the brakes, engine box and on the exterior, to collect data and pinpoint opportunities where drivers can adjust their driving to maximize fuel efficiency. The company wants to reduce idle time of its delivery trucks, as each hour spent idling burns about a gallon of fuel, Barnes said. The company is also installing GPS equipment to track the routes drivers take to deliver packages. Every morning the drivers are briefed on the data captured by the sensors and how they could drive differently to save fuel, he said. UPS wants to optimize the number of times a vehicle has to start, stop, reverse, turn or back up.

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