Why UPS trucks never turn left – Supply Chain

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UPS trucks never turn left

Why UPS Trucks Almost Never Turn Left

UPS drivers are trained to avoid making left turns because it’s part of a strategy designed to improve safety and efficiency. The company’s routing software, called ORION (On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation), optimizes delivery routes by minimizing left turns for the following reasons:

Safety: Left turns often involve crossing oncoming traffic, which increases the risk of accidents. By reducing left turns, UPS drivers face fewer potentially hazardous situations.
Time Efficiency: Left turns can lead to delays due to traffic lights and waiting for gaps in oncoming traffic. Avoiding them generally leads to smoother, faster driving.
Fuel Savings: Waiting at intersections burns more fuel. By cutting down on idle time, avoiding left turns reduces fuel consumption, leading to significant cost savings for the company.

Though not all left turns are avoided, minimizing them helps UPS improve its operational efficiency on a large scale. This policy reportedly saves millions of gallons of fuel and reduces CO2 emissions annually.

Find out why UPS trucks never turn left. Senior VP Bob Stoffel explains how a policy of only making right turns saves the company both time and money. Great story on why UPS is one of the great supply chain companies.

Quotes

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” ~ Bill Gates
“If you don’t pay appropriate attention to what has your attention, it will take more of your attention than it deserves.” ~ David Allen
“Every day we are paying more for energy than we should due to poor insulation, inefficient lights, appliances, and heating and cooling equipment – money we could save by investing in energy efficiency.” ~ Bernie Sanders
“A particular shot or way of moving the ball can be a player’s personal signature, but #efficiency of performance is what wins the game for the team.” ~ Pat Riley
“Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success.” ~ Thomas Watson
“Obviously, the highest type of efficiency is that which can utilize existing material to the best advantage.” ~ Jawaharlal Nehru
“Action is the foundational key to all success.” ~ Pablo Picasso
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” ~ Peter F. Drucker
“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” ~ Stephen Covey