UPS to outfit 5,700 trucks with collision-avoidance technology

Transport and logistics giant UPS Inc. will equip more than 60 percent of its tractor-trailer fleet with a suite of collision-warning sensors and technologies that could help drivers avoid accidents, the company said Tuesday.

The company plans to add the systems to more than 5,700 of its fleet of 11,000 trucks, including every large tractor purchased since June 2015. Atlanta-based UPS said the technology could help its big rigs avoid accidents by alerting drivers to moving and stationary objects in front of the tractor, as well as moving objects surrounding the vehicle.

The technology provides blind-spot and lane-departure warnings, electronic stability control, and forward-collision warning with automatic brake application, UPS said. Drivers would still be in full control of their vehicles, UPS said, with the "driver assistance technologies" complementing standard safe driving practices, not replacing them.

The system would also include an adaptive cruise control feature that helps drivers maintain a constant distance behind the vehicle in front, the company said. The system would automatically slow the tractor to reduce the risk of collision, and would improve fuel economy by reducing the so-called accordion effect caused by traffic, UPS said.

Separately, UPS said today that it will build a $90 million, 360,000-square-foot package-distribution facility in Aurora, Colo., about 16 miles east of Denver. Part of the facility will be operational in time for the pre-holiday shipping season, UPS said.

From early 2016 through September 2017, UPS has constructed nine new U.S. facilities that will create more than 6.2 million square feet of facility space for expanded package-processing capacity. The Aurora facility is in addition to the previously announced projects. The project is expected to be completed sometime in 2019, UPS said.