UPS Sorts Packages at Hub in Commerce City
Published Nov 19, 2008
In these times of high fuel costs, United Parcel Service of America Inc. is pleased to have a hub-and-spoke delivery system in Colorado and elsewhere.
After UPS planes arrive at Denver International Airport, the cargo is sorted. Packages going beyond the Denver metro area are loaded onto delivery trucks, tractor-trailers and 22 propeller aircraft. Metro Denver packages are sent to a hub in Commerce City, sorted again and loaded onto trucks for same-day delivery.
“We have operating centers across the world, and in certain parts of the United States we have these that consolidate several areas,” says David Loya, UPS communications supervisor for the Rocky Mountain District. “At this center, we dispatch about 400 delivery drivers a day and additional tractor-trailer drivers. It is an extremely busy place.”
The center uses hardware and software to develop the most effective and fuel-efficient route for delivery vehicles – in plain terms, limiting left turns.
In 2006, this approach shaved an estimated 28.5 million miles off UPS delivery routes across the United States. A report outlining fuel-saving tips notes that “idling while waiting to turn across traffic wastes not only time but gas – not to mention the cars idling behind you waiting for you to turn.” The right-turn strategy also improves safety, it added.
The company implemented the system in Commerce City in 2004.
UPS also operates the largest private alternative-fuel fleet in the transportation industry.
Story by Kelli Levey
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