UPS Uses Telematics To Go - And Save - Green
This year UPS is expanding testing of a telematics-based initiative to 10 U.S. and one Canadian market. The initiative uses advanced algorithms and proprietary firmware to analyze data captured by sensors in the company's ubiquitous brown delivery trucks to slash energy consumption, improve efficiency and customer service, and make its drivers safer on the roads.
Telematics Technology
- The initiative draws a detailed picture of the driver's – and the truck's – day, capturing data on more than 200 vehicle-related elements from speed, RPMs, and oil pressure to seatbelt use, the number of times the truck is placed in reverse, and the amount of time spent idling.
- Using a 900 MHz radio, the data is uploaded when a driver returns to his or her center at the end of the day, then sent to UPS's massive data center in Mahwah, N.J.
Expanding Testing This Year
- UPS successfully tested the technology last year on 334 delivery trucks in Roswell and Athens, Ga.
- UPS is rolling out the technology this year to 1,500 additional vehicles in 11 more markets this year: Baltimore, Md.; Bowling Green, Ky.; Campbellsville, Ky.; Laguna, Calif.; Landover, Md.; Providence, R.I.; Somerset, Ky.; Sweetwater, Texas; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Waldorf, Md.; and Wichita, Kan.
Telematics technology helps the folks in brown go – and save – green.
- At the two Georgia test sites, the initiative helped slash the amount of time trucks idled by 24 minutes per driver per day – a fuel savings of $188 per driver per year. Multiply that by more than 90,000 U.S. package drivers, and the potential savings is significant.
- The technology enables insight into a vehicle's performance and condition, and more accurately determines the right time to bring trucks into the shop for repair and maintenance – or when to place a truck that is beginning to perform less efficiently on a shorter route.
- The initiative is helping UPS reduce energy consumption and environmental impact by:
- Optimizing dispatch planning and driver routine to reduce overall driver miles.
- Optimizing vehicle performance and fuel economy; improving maintenance.
- Currently the company replaces a starter approximately every two years, whether a vehicle makes 150 stops a day, or 30. Telematics allows UPS mechanics to base the decision instead on things like the actual cycles of each starter, and the amount of voltage it draws when it's used.
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