UPS Offers "Green" Pickup Option to Customers

UPS has announced a cost-effective and convenient "green" pickup option for small- to medium-sized businesses, allowing the company to automate the process of having drivers stop at customer locations to pick up packages.

UPS Smart PickupSM is designed for customers who want the convenience of a scheduled pickup but who may not ship a package every day. The service ensures that a driver stops at a customer location to pick up a package only when a package is, in fact, being shipped.

This service is expected to eliminate eight million miles from the total driven by UPS each year in the US and will save an estimated 793,000 gallons of fuel and 7,800 metric tons of CO2 emissions.

"Before Smart Pickup, UPS would often arrive at a customer's location only to discover that the customer had no packages for pickup that day," said CIO, David Barnes. "For the first time, a service integrates the company's operational and customer-facing technology to eliminate unnecessary stops. The service is particularly suited for customers who are interested in cost-effective ways to make environmentally responsible choices, while at the same time helping UPS reduce miles and lessen our carbon footprint."

A customer uses a UPS shipping system to process a package prior to a predetermined cutoff time. That shipping system then communicates with internal operations systems at UPS to notify drivers via their wireless, handheld computers that a pickup is required. The result is that a pickup is only scheduled when a customer processes a package in a shipping system.

UPS, www.ups.com