UPS Using Software To Eliminate Left Turns

cybermage writes "The NY Times has a story about UPS using software to dramatically reduce the number of left turns their drivers take. With a fleet of vehicles their size, the time and money saved by pre-planning routes that try to eliminate left turns means big savings." Some CS major probably figured this out instead of traveling salesman.

I have a solution.

[suso]

Three rights make a left. Ok, were's my check?

Re:I have a solution.

[calebt3]

And two Wrights make an airplane.

I live in the UK

[Morosoph]

You insensitive clod!

And this is all because

[zappepcs]

NASCAR turned them down on a discount ad deal....

Circle....

[ZiakII]

If they enter a circle/roundabout do they get stuck in an infinite loop?

Hemispatial neglect

[tosh1979]

Who's idea was this? Derek Zoolander's?

Re:Not a bad idea

[toQDuj]

It really _is_ an idea, so true, so true.

Re:I have a solution.

[plague3106]

<oldDrunkladyVoice>Tree...tree....three lefts make a right. I wanna go home.</oldDrunkladyVoice>

Re:I have a solution.

[LordSkippy]

Don't forget the Nixonian Theorem:

If two wrongs don't make a right, try a third.

In Related News..

[Spritzer]

...it seems FedEx has decided to cut costs simply by not delivering packages.

Said FedEx spokesman Dewey Shippit, "We've found that there is a significant savings in randomly tossing packages into a large warehouse and not delivering them. The cost of delivering those packages far exceeds the cost of repeatedly 'issuing a trace' to locate the missing item."

Re:England

[should_be_linear]

Each self-respecting programmer will tell you that in UK it is enough to reverse algorithm and travel backwards.

pre-planning? Is that what they do

[1shooter]

before they plan?

With a fleet of vehicles their size, the time and money saved by planning routes that try to eliminate left turns means big savings.

There, fixed it for you.

Somebody needs to use a spell checker. Something is either planned or unplanned. There is no "pre".

Re:I have a solution.

[Archangel Michael]

Two Wongs make Peking Duck

In other news ...

[belthize]

      Congress was working up a bill that would retrofit all the roads in the
US so we're either straight or turned right. The bill was dropped when
they discovered the principle designer, MC Escher had pased away and nobody
else was capable of drawing them.

Belthize

Re:I have a solution.

[SiO2]

You've obviously driven in New Jersey.

SiO2

Re:I live in the UK

[PinkyDead]

100% agree. If these silly Americans would only learn to drive on the correct side of the road, then they wouldn't have this problem.

Zoolander?

[Borealis]

At least Derek Zoolander has a fallback career now if he can't model anymore.

Re:I live in the UK

[Hoi Polloi]

Based on a lifetime's driving in the Boston Mass area I can assure you that few Americans know how to drive safely in this country either. I think the rule is, just close your eyes, pick up your cell phone and hit the gas.

Re:Makes sense

[Dachannien]

From a time issue along. Left turns usually require red light wait, whereas many right turns just a stop, count 3 and go.

I suppose in the case of a UPS truck, the truck will probably win most of the time, but the rest of us usually make sure nobody's coming instead of counting to 3.

Re:I have a solution.

[Total_Wimp]

We shouldn't need a private-sector solution. The government should be designing cites with far fewer left turns. Thank god for the Republicans. Their tireless efforts to turn our country to the right will not be forgotten.
 

Re:I live in the UK

[qwerty asdf]

Boston is a special case. While closing your eyes and hitting the gas will usually work in Boston about as well as driving with your eyes open will, it is generally not recommended in other US cities.

In other news...

[Redbaran]

... UPS dropped all NASCAR sponsorship citing technical difficulties with their in-car GPS systems which caused too many cars to crash into the wall.

Re:I live in the UK

[enharmonix]

Of course. There are 60,000,000 people in the UK.

...which, if I'm not mistaken, is roughly the number of times the "insensitive clod" joke has been made on slashdot...

Re:I have a solution.... and a racist comment

[jtanwanteng]

and your parents made a mistake

Re:I have a solution.

[BobGregg]

Actually the original punch line is, "Two Wongs don't make a white", which for some reason my Chinese wife finds endlessly amusing...

Re:Hemispatial neglect

[SanityInAnarchy]

Don't feel bad, I'm sure there are lots of people out there, who, just like you, can't turn...

Well, hey, at least UPS trucks can't turn left!

Re:I have a solution.

[operagost]

New Jersey: All the corruption of New York government, without the ingenuity.

Re:off topic but...

[japhmi]

The real cause of traffic problems is governments thinking they can control our behaviors like rats in a maze.

Subject SL610249 is getting unruly, better move the cheese again...