UPS on Thursday, July 28, released the latest edition of its annual Sustainability Report, disclosing it once again had managed to reduce the amount of fuel it’s using to deliver each package in the United States. UPS says its U.S. package volume rose 1.8 percent in 2010 compared to 2009, but it reduced the amount of fuel consumed per package by 3.3 percent.
The company attributed the improvement to deploying the right vehicle on the right routes, using technology to minimize the miles driven and focusing on how behavior can affect fuel use. UPS says technology enabled it to avoid driving more than 63.5 million miles in 2010 with an associated emissions avoidance of 68,000 metric tonnes.
“Fuel represents not only a major cost factor for UPS but also a major source of emissions that impact the environment,” says Scott Wicker, UPS chief sustainability officer. “It makes sense for UPS to report extensively on how the company is doing its best to lower its net fuel use.”
UPS says the new report, found at ups.com/sustainability, spotlights key ways that the Atlanta-based company’s technology has reduced fuel consumption:
• Routing technology, which enabled UPS to reduce the miles flown and driven;
• Loading optimization so that more packages are being delivered with fewer vehicles on the road; and
• Telematics, which provides data on how a vehicle performs mechanically as well as on a driver’s route and behavior behind the wheel. Telematics saved 15.4 million minutes of engine idling time in 2010.
“This sustainability report outlines how UPS supports social, environmental and economic value not only today but for the foreseeable future,” says Scott Davis, UPS chairman and chief executive officer.
