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Apr 30, 2008 6:49 pm US/Central
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UPS Driver Uses Gas Saving Tips Off The Job Too
(WCCO)
If
one of the biggest companies in the country told you it could save you gas, and
money, you'd probably listen.
UPS
has a well-run and highly effective way of managing how much it spends on fuel.
Using
a special system, it's shaved just about 30 million miles off its delivery
routes, and it's saved 3 million gallons of gas.
The
line, "What can Brown do for you?" now has more meaning in the
company on top of shipping -- saving gas.
UPS
driver Gene Gerdesmeier finds himself duplicating in his own car what he does
at work.
"You
go to the grocery store, then this. You don't go back and forth. You create a
route so to speak. It drives the wives crazy sometimes, and the kids wonder,
why can't we go there first," he said.
Tune-ups
matter because routine maintenance is one part of getting the best gas mileage.
Gerdesmeier
makes sure everything is working inside his vehicle and outside too -- including
the tires. They have to have just the right amount of air.
Before
Gene leaves on any company delivery, he checks his route.
"Everything's
planned out, exactly," he said, while holding a special, handheld
computer.
That's
lesson number two -- plan your trip.
UPS
has learned that operating more than 90,000 vehicles at the lowest cost requires
planning.
The
company plans where its drivers deliver and how they do it.
"Freeways
are definitely better mileage. The vehicle doesn't have to work as hard to get
going and, of course, stopping," Gerdesmeier said.
He
never backtracks -- which is lesson number three.
Gerdesmeier
starts at the farthest delivery point and he works back, in delivery order, in
a complete loop.
Lesson
four is he tries not to make left hand turns. He makes as many right ones that
he can.
"They're
quicker! They're way quicker and then you're just on your way," said Gerdesmeier.
"They're safer. There's less confusion."
Right
turns require the vehicle to idle less, and therefore, it saves on gas.
These
are lessons on using the least gas from a package pro.
"It
works! It's a way of life," Gerdesmeier
said.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)