Friday, November 1, 2013

Top Story

UPS analyzes data to save time and fuel

Shipping giant United Parcel Service is implementing new route guidance technology that analyzes data from its customers, drivers and trucks to save time, money, and fuel emissions.

The On-Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation, or Orion, system is being launched this year for use by 10,000 of the company's 55,000 U.S. drivers, UPS said. Orion is the company's biggest technological advancement over the past ten years, UPS said.

The system uses electronic information gathered from UPS customers, from its fleet of 101,000 delivery vehicles, and from handheld devices carried by drivers to craft optimal routes that reduce distance, time and fuel.

"We're using big data to drive smarter and the idea is an extension of that to other things," said David Barnes, chief information officer. "This is a world where we have such levels of connectivity the information in almost all cases is coming faster than the packages are being picked up."

"We brought that information together and looked at developing a mathematical model that would take into account the physics of the driving route, the knowledge of the driver and information from the packages to bring it all together with optimal routing," Barnes said.

UPS said preliminary tests show a reduction in miles driven on routes using Orion. Decreasing the distance driven by 1 mile per day for every driver can save the company as much as $50 million a year in fuel, vehicle maintenance and time.

For more of the Bloomberg story: bloomberg.coml

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