Why UPS trucks don’t turn left

Did you know that UPS, the global delivery behemoth, insists that its trucks only turn right en route to delivery? Aspirants planning on a career in Supply Chain and Operations will find the reasons behind the diktat interesting – turns out there is a cost consideration behind UPS’ policy. Read on to understand how the seemingly insignificant aspects of  business, when optimized, can lead to significant savings in costs. 

In 2004, UPS announced a new policy for its drivers: the right way to get to any destination was to avoid left-hand turns. Even if that means following this route that a UPS driver described to an incredulous press member:

“We’re gonna make a right turn onto 135th to Western. We’ll make another right on Western down to 139th. Righ turn on 139th and go down to the end of the block and we’ll make another right turn.”

When better tracking systems emerged in 2001, the package delivery service took a closer look at how trucks performed when delivering packages. As a logistics company with some 96,000 trucks and several hundred aircraft, much of UPS’s business can be distilled to a series of optimization problems around reducing the amount of fuel used, saving time, and using space more efficiently. (Trucks in UPS facilities park just a few inches apart with their side mirrors overlapping to save space.)

UPS engineers found that left-hand turns were a major drag on efficiency. Turning against traffic resulted in long waits in left-hand turn lanes that wasted time and fuel, and it also led to a disproportionate number of accidents. By mapping out routes that involved “a series of right-hand loops,” UPS improved profits and safety while touting their catchy, environmentally friendly policy. As of 2012, the right turn rule combined with other improvements – for the wow factor, UPS doesn’t separate them out – saved around 10 million gallons of gas and reduced emissions by the equivalent of taking 5,300 cars of the road for a year.

As of 2012, the right turn rule combined with other improvements saved around 10 million gallons of gas and reduced emissions by the equivalent of taking 5,300 cars of the road for a year

Describing the policy in a speech, the CEO of UPS told his audience, “I can see a few of you smiling out there, and I know what you may be thinking. But it really works.”

If you don’t believe it, well, that’s why Mythbusters exists. The program sent a truck out to deliver packages following a normal route and a left turn hating UPS route. They found the UPS approach saved gas but took a bit longer:

Mythbusters puts UPS’s strategy to the test

Mythbusters likely failed to save time on the route by following the rule even more stringently than UPS. While the no left turn rule has an appealingly simple and algorithmic quality to it, you will see UPS drivers take left turns on occasion, especially in residential neighborhoods without much incoming traffic. Asked how often UPS drivers turn right, a driver told ABC: “A guesstimate, I would probably say 90%. I mean we really, really hate left turns at UPS.”

Since UPS uses software to map out routes, it can send drivers on right turn heavy routes while making exceptions when a left turn is easier and faster. As an amicable senior VP of the company said in an interview about the rule, “That’s why I love the engineers, they just love to continue to figure out how to make it better.”

Article courtesy priceonomics.com. Article author Alex Mayassi. Read the original article at this link.