Most people probably don't give an awful lot of thought to how the things they buy actually get to them. But the reality is, pretty much everything we consume is touched in some way by a global and interconnected logistics industry that is truly behemoth. We are aware of package delivery trucks running about, but their presence is just the tip of an industry that by some estimates, constitutes as much as 10% of global GDP.
Most people probably don't give an awful lot of thought to how the things they buy actually get to them. But the reality is, pretty much everything we consume is touched in some way by a global and interconnected logistics industry that is truly behemoth. We are aware of package delivery trucks running about, but their presence is just the tip of an industry that by some estimates, constitutes as much as 10% of global GDP.
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So, when you ponder that such a huge industry must use energy each time it moves goods around the planet, it is no surprise that businesses in the logistics game are keenly aware that efficiency and sustainability are not just factors of corporate responsibility, but business imperatives – the multiplier of small energy efficiency gains are just so tremendous.
UPS is certainly aware of this business imperative, which is clear from their 2010 sustainability report. The scale of the Atlanta-based company is quite impressive – in the process of moving 3.94 billion packages across more than 220 countries in 2010, they employed 400,600 people, operated 99,795 ground vehicles and 216 aircraft. While bringing in net revenues of $49.6 billion for the year, it seems everything they do, both operationally, and technologically, is to to chip away at inefficiency. So, where do they find incremental improvements?
It is from a combination of efforts. For their enormous ground vehicle fleet, one innovation is the introduction of a proprietary "telematics" system. The system involves the use of sensors placed in their trucks which provide both mechanical data, (by monitoring how a vehicle is performing), and behavioral data, (by monitoring how a vehicle is being driven). Drivers are given feedback from the data gleaned, allowing them to optimize their driving techniques. For example, telematics-equipped vehicles alone saved 260,000 gallons of fuel through the elimination of engine idling time. Furthermore, telematics, along with route optimization software – designed to reduce delivery miles – has enabled UPS to avoid 63.5 million driving miles and 68,000 metric tonnes of CO2.
Article continues: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/08/ups-sustainability-report-efficiency-initiatives-lead-reduced-fuel-package/
