UPS to step up ORION deployment to boost emissions cuts
Package delivery giant UPS is stepping up its rollout of the route optimizing technology ORION in the United States. The company is aiming to deploy the system on 70% of its US routes in 2015.
Atlanta-based UPS said the system should reduce the distance driven by its fleet by 100m miles a year from 2016 once it is fully implemented on all US routes.
The technology, which uses customer, driver and vehicle data to work out the most efficient possible route in dropping off parcels each day, was first introduced in 2012 after 10 years of development.
UPS claims that rolling ORION out across the US will cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 100,000 tonnes a year, the equivalent of taking 21,000 passenger cars off the road.
Mitch Nichols, UPS senior vice president of transportation and engineering, said the company’s decision to accelerate its roll out came on the backs of the performance the technology has already achieved.
“We have realised a reduction of 6 to 8 miles driven per route, resulting in significantly lower fuel use and related lower vehicle emissions,” he said. “As a result, we’re expediting the rollout and expect ORION to be fully deployed by the end of 2016, ahead of the original schedule.”
For a single 120-stop route, the ORION software analyzes more than 200,000 options to select the most efficient route to hit deadlines for time-sensitive collections or deliveries.
UPS said it is continuing to refine and improve the system as it is deployed.
Plans are to expand the use of ORION to routes outside the United States after 2017 to further reduce miles driven and international fleet fuel consumption.
