UPS Goes to the Right, Ever to the Right

The line about going ever to the right comes from a song in the musical 1776. UPS is just bringing a new and more literal meaning to it. According to this story in the New York Times, the company, as much as possible, is trying to eliminate the left hand turn from its trucks' routes. The problem that left hand turns pose is, more often than not, requiring trucks to idle while waiting for an opening. A right hand turn is generally a lot faster (so long as you're in the US and not the UK). So the complex software systems that establish the loading order in the trucks and set the routes are now trying to minimize that waiting, and the assorted wage and fuel expenses. For most companies, this would probably be a waste of time that would do nothing but let management think that it was doing something useful. But UPS is hardly the average company, and is probably as efficient on the road as any:

Last year, according to Heather Robinson, a U.P.S. spokeswoman, the software helped the company shave 28.5 million miles off its delivery routes, which has resulted in savings of roughly three million gallons of gas and has reduced CO2 emissions by 31,000 metric tons.

It might be bluster, but I have a feeling that they are serious, and probably saving money.