No left turns rule (UPS does it. Is it a useful fuel saving tactic?)

[Christ]

I won't claim that I can do it, because I'm just not that good. I make lots of mistakes, and I usually yell at myself when I realize I've done it.

I can, however, time intersections in areas that I'm familiar with fairly effectively. That would include left turns, not as much, but still to an extent.

In an area with "parallel routes", left turns can be nearly wholly eliminated if the route allows for it.

[MadisonMPG]

All my lights are trigger activated, so if no one is there, I have to wait at the light. That makes "timing" impossible.

EDIT; just got an idea. What about an electro magnet to trigger the light before I got there? Just leave it on the ground beside the road and make it battery powered/wireless. It would be cool to impress people with.

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by MadisonMPG

But as a whole, do you think it saves "iron"?

If you were to literally never make left turns, and make only right turns, certain aspects of your suspension / steering would show more wear over long periods of time, reflecting the imbalance.

Where I live (metro NY area) UPS drivers are told not to make ANY turns any more than they need to. A dirty little secret is that UPS discovered a long time ago that a vehicle's suspension and steering will last a lot longer with the fewer turns made. Thus, UPS trucks are often seen here parked and making their deliveries from the middle of the street, rather than parking at the curb. It's not safe, nor legal, but they get away with it because they're never there long enough to get ticketed (and maybe the PD looks in the other direction, because UPS is a big business that has a big 'footprint').

[Christ]

Originally Posted by MadisonMPG

All my lights are trigger activated, so if no one is there, I have to wait at the light. That makes "timing" impossible.

EDIT; just got an idea. What about an electro magnet to trigger the light before I got there? Just leave it on the ground beside the road and make it battery powered/wireless. It would be cool to impress people with.

We have these as well, in some places. I don't normally drive in those places, either, and when I do, I almost always EOC to the lights to minimize the impact.

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

If you were to literally never make left turns, and make only right turns, certain aspects of your suspension / steering would show more wear over long periods of time, reflecting the imbalance.

Where I live (metro NY area) UPS drivers are told not to make ANY turns any more than they need to. A dirty little secret is that UPS discovered a long time ago that a vehicle's suspension and steering will last a lot longer with the fewer turns made. Thus, UPS trucks are often seen here parked and making their deliveries from the middle of the street, rather than parking at the curb. It's not safe, nor legal, but they get away with it because they're never there long enough to get ticketed (and maybe the PD looks in the other direction, because UPS is a big business that has a big 'footprint').

Who do you think delivers their ticket books?

[wagonman76]

I have heard about this for years, UPS trying to eliminate as many left turns as possible. If you've got a ton of places to go and have the power to just run your route differently without really going much more distance, then it's great.

For the average driver, it's probably more trouble than it's worth most of the time.

However one thing I do a lot, is just think about where I have to go from a birds eye view. I am going to have to make a left somewhere and usually there are quite a few places I could make a left and still get to the same place. So I choose to do it in a location that is the easiest, and go the same distance.

Making a left from a busy stoplight with no arrow has gotta be one of the most asinine things designed. The city must benefit from the tickets and accidents. Whenever possible, I always try to turn at the street before the light. That way when it is red at least everyone is stopped enough to safely turn, and enough time to get between the ones turning right from the light.

[jamesqf]

I would imagine they'd go well beyond a simple "no left turns" rule, and use trip planning software that takes into account all the delivery addresses, expected traffic conditions, &c, and plots out an efficient route for the day.

[gone-ot]

...also, maybe UPS has GPS units on their trucks to keep track of where/when each vehicle is, so can actually "monitor" time delays and loops made to determine if left-turns are any worse than normal...or, likewise, any better than no-left-turns???

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...also, maybe UPS has GPS units on their trucks to keep track of where/when each vehicle is, so can actually "monitor" time delays and loops made to determine if left-turns are any worse than normal...or, likewise, any better than no-left-turns???

I'm tellin' ya, UPS has told their drivers not to make any turns, any more than are absolutely necessary. (Just as with hypermiling, one doesn't accelerate more than absolutely necessary, eh?)

GPS may know where they are, but it doesn't know whether they park at the curb or not. What galls me is that usually they could easily park at the curb, barely turning the wheels to get to it, but they don't, even when there are hardly any cars parked curbside. (Refer to the first paragraph to understand the UPS company policy.) And, the height of hypocrisy is that their trucks now sport a large, red flag on the backside saying "safety" while they're parked in the middle of the road.

They can flout the law, but short of having a big, brown truck, we can't do the same.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I would imagine they'd ... use trip planning software

You are correct, sir!

The company employs what it calls a “package flow” software program, which among other hyperefficient practices ... maps out routes for every one of its drivers, drastically reducing the number of left-hand turns they make (taking into consideration, of course, those instances where not to make the left-hand turn would result in a ridiculously circuitous route).

"the software helped the company shave 28.5 million miles off its delivery routes, which has resulted in savings of roughly three million gallons of gas"

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/ma...-handturn.html