UPS, one of the largest logistics companies in the world, has, in the US alone, a fleet of more than 108,000 vehicles, which include cars, vans, motorcycles and the company's iconic delivery trucks.
The management of the immense fleet gave rise to a series of optimizing measures — not only for faster and more efficient deliveries, but also to keep operating costs under control. The strangest of these measures was the one introduced in 2004 of: avoid turning left as much as possible - What?
Against all logic
The reasons behind this seemingly absurd measure follow from UPS's observations. After 2001, with the arrival of superior tracking systems, the company began to analyze in more detail the “performance” of its delivery trucks when in service.
And the most obvious finding by the UPS engineers is that turning left—at countless intersections or junctions in a major metropolis—was the main factor against the efficiency they sought. Turning left, crossing a lane with oncoming traffic, wasted too much time and fuel and, worse, led to a high number of accidents.
UPS Executive DirectorI can see some of you smiling, and I know what you are thinking. But it really works.
Routes have been changed. Whenever possible, turning left would be avoided, even if it means a longer journey. Turning right would become the rule for defining all routes—currently, UPS estimates that only 10% of directional changes are left.
The results
The results did not wait. The number of accidents and the probability of such happening have decreased, as have delays due to time wasted at junctions and intersections to turn left, either by waiting for a break in traffic or by traffic lights - which also led to less waste of fuel.The success of this measure was such that it allowed the removal of around 1100 delivery trucks, out of the more than 91 thousand that it puts on the road every day. UPS started to deliver more than 350 thousand packages annually, at the same time saving more than 11 million liters of fuel and emitting 20 thousand less tons of CO2, in the total applied measures.
And although some routes have become longer, with fewer trucks in circulation, it has reduced the total distance traveled by the company's vehicles by around 46 million kilometers annually. Efficiency above all.
Even the Mythbusters have tested
The strangeness of the solution makes it unbelievable for many. Perhaps the reason it was tested by the well-known Mythbusters. And the results obtained by UPS were confirmed by the Mythbusters — just turning right, and despite the longer distance covered, it saved fuel. However, they also took longer — perhaps because they were more adamant in enforcing the rule than UPS itself.
Note: Naturally, in countries where you drive on the left side, the rule is reversed — avoid turning right.