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UPS Accelerates Use of Routing Optimization Software to Reduce 100 Million Miles Driven

Atlanta, March 02, 2015UPS ORION to Be Deployed to 70% of U.S. Routes in 2015; Delivers Significant Sustainability Benefits UPS® (NYSE:UPS) today revealed that its groundbreaking ORION routing system is expected to reduce by 100 million miles annually the distance driven by its drivers, when fully implemented in 2016. The company is accelerating its implementation to complete all planned U.S. routes in 2016. The deployment will result in a 100,000 metric ton reduction in CO2 emissions, equivalent to taking 21,000 passenger cars off the road for a year, according to the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

Published 9 years ago | About a 2 minute read

Atlanta, March 02, 2015

UPS ORION to Be Deployed to 70% of U.S. Routes in 2015; Delivers Significant Sustainability Benefits

UPS® (NYSE:UPS) today revealed that its groundbreaking ORION routing system is expected to reduce by 100 million miles annually the distance driven by its drivers, when fully implemented in 2016. The company is accelerating its implementation to complete all planned U.S. routes in 2016. The deployment will result in a 100,000 metric ton reduction in CO2 emissions, equivalent to taking 21,000 passenger cars off the road for a year, according to the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.

The company expects additional benefits including annual savings of 10 million gallons of fuel and more than $300 million when its On-Road Integrated Optimization Navigation (ORION) system completes U.S. implementation. Additional environmental benefits and cost reduction savings will be realized when vehicles outside the U.S. are equipped with the technology in future years. During 2015, UPS plans to complete installation of ORION routing on about 70% of the planned routes.

UPS's ORION routing system uses data from customers, drivers and vehicles to reduce miles driven on delivery routes. ORION calculates the most efficient driving path taking into consideration all scheduled package delivery and pick-up stops required on the route for the specific day. UPS began implementing ORION routing in 2012 after 10 years of development work.

"We have realized a reduction of 6 to 8 miles driven per route resulting in significantly lower fuel use and related lower vehicle emissions," said Mitch Nichols, UPS senior vice president of transportation and engineering. "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."

ORION routing will continue to be refined and improved as it is deployed. By operating one unified fleet with ORION technology, UPS can optimize pickup and deliveries across its operation. For each 120 stop route, ORION analyzes more than 200,000 options, selecting the most efficient route while meeting customer requirements for time-sensitive pickup or deliveries.

Dynamic routing is planned for a future version to enable more efficient routing changes during the drivers' day. Global routes outside of the U.S. will be deployed after 2017 to further reduce miles driven, vehicle maintenance, fuel use and CO2 emissions.

The first package delivery company to introduce alternative fuel tractors into its fleet, UPS operates one of the largest private alternative fuel fleets in the U.S. with more than 5,088 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles. This includes all-electric, hybrid electric, hydraulic hybrid, CNG, LNG, propane, biomethane and light-weight fuel-saving composite body vehicles. By the end of 2017, UPS anticipates logging one billion miles from its alternative fuel fleet.