How UPS saved millions of dollars; this will surprise you!

In 2004, UPS announced a new policy for its drivers: the right way to get to any destination was to avoid left-hand turns.

This new policy might result surprising, but as a logistics company with some 96,000 trucks, much of UPS's business can be distilled to a series of optimization problems around reducing the amount of fuel used, saving time, and using space more efficiently.

UPS engineers found that left-hand turns were a major drag on efficiency. Turning against traffic resulted in long waits that wasted time and fuel, and it also led to a disproportionate number of accidents.

By mapping out routes that involved a series of right hand turns UPS improved profits and safety. As of 2012, the right turn rule combined with other improvements saved around 45 million litters of gas and reduced emissions by the equivalent of taking 5,300 cars of the road for a year.

Describing the policy in a speech, the CEO of UPS told his audience "I can see a few of you smiling out there, and I know what you may be thinking. But it really works."

If you don't believe it, well, that's why Mythbusters exists:

And of course there are still a few left turns!!

You will see UPS drivers take left turns on occasion, especially in residential neighborhoods without much incoming traffic. Since UPS uses software to map out routes, it can send drivers on right turn on heavy routes while making exceptions when a left turn is easier and faster.

This might not be worth implementing on your next run to the groceries, but keep in mind that is by no means as crazy as it sounds!