The Right Wingers at UPS

[jdham137]

Did anyone see the ABC news story about UPS a week or so ago? UPS plans the routes the drivers take to make as few left turns as possible. UPS saves around 3 million gallons of fuel yearly by doing this. That really got me thinking about the route I take to and from work. I was getting 23 to 25 mpg (city driving) on my commute but I changed my route and now get 30 to 35 mpg. It's only 7 miles one way but the new route is making a big difference. Do most people on this list analyse and plan their routes to maximise efficiency?

John David

[zpiloto]

Absolutely

[atomicradish]

I don't. There are only so many winding roads through the mountains.

[ELF]

Originally Posted by jdham137

I was getting 23 to 25 mpg (city driving) on my commute but I changed my route and now get 30 to 35 mpg. It's only 7 miles one way but the new route is making a big difference. Do most people on this list analyse and plan their routes to maximise efficiency?

John David

Hey welcome,
That is a huge difference in mpg. When ever I go anywhere I think about which route I am going to drive. Sometimes I have to try 2 or 3 routes to one palce and compare mpg. For me the better route is usually only 2 or 3 mpg better.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by jdham137

Do most people on this list analyse and plan their routes to maximize efficiency?

John David

No... I adjust on the fly... If there's a red light that's going to stop me, I'll take the right on red approach. My city, for the most part, is a grid. And my destination is usually never a straight line :P So when I hit a green light to make my eventual left - I do It works quite well for me :P

But I started doing that for engine wear reasons rather then FE - it's good to know that it helped :P

[Matt Timion]

I hate left turns, and tell my wife this regularly. I will honestly drive a few blocks out of the way just to avoid a left turn.

Anyway, analyzing the route makes a HUGE difference and is one the most overlooked ways of saying gas.

[kickflipjr]

I plan my driving routes carefully. Trying to avoid: large hills, red lights, high speed travel, and traffic jams. And do it in the least amount of miles possible.

[Hockey4mnhs]

welcome to the site!!gps helps me alot ill just sit there with the car off and plan it out with the gps.

[cfg83]

Hello -

Ha ha ha, I avoid left turns too, but originally for safety reasons. My Mom avoids left turns like the plague because she's scared to make left turns. My Dad makes fun of her, but I like to make right turns for safety and to just "keep moving", since part of the frustration of driving comes from the longgggg stops.

At this one intersection, instead of making a left, I will make a right into a hardware store parking lot, and make another right turn to get onto the street that I would normally make a left onto.

As they say,

Three Rights make a Left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

trebuchet03 -

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

No... I adjust on the fly... If there's a red light that's going to stop me, I'll take the right on red approach. My city, for the most part, is a grid. And my destination is usually never a straight line :P So when I hit a green light to make my eventual left - I do It works quite well for me :P

But I started doing that for engine wear reasons rather then FE - it's good to know that it helped :P

Me too. My Zen philosophy is that I am a "drop of water on the river of highways", meaning that I will trickle on a zig-zag path, mostly parallel to major arteries, avoiding the pools of stagnant water (stoplights) to get to my goal. For going from El Segundo to UCLA (the Mordor of traffic jams), I have a very convoluted route with optional pathways I will choose based on the "road ahead" and/or the time of day. I have an ideal path, but there are options all along the way.

CarloSW2