United Parcel Service
- "UPS" redirects here; for other uses , see UPS (disambiguation).
| United Parcel Service Inc | |
|---|---|
| Missing image New_UPS_logo.png UPS Logo | |
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Location | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Key people | Michael Eskew, CEO & Director |
| Industry | Trucking |
| Products | Package delivery |
| Revenue | $36.582B USD (Missing image Green_up.png Image:green up.png $3.10B FY 2004) |
| Website | www.ups.com |
United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) (NYSE: UPS) is the world's largest package delivery company, delivering over 14 million packages a day to over 200 countries around the world. It has recently expanded its operations to include logistics and other transportation-related areas. It is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. UPS is well-known for its brown trucks, also known as package cars (hence the company nickname "Big Brown"). The color brown that UPS uses on its vehicles and uniforms is called Pullman brown after the railroad sleeper cars created by George Pullman which used the same color. Major competitors include United States Postal Service (USPS), FedEx, and DHL. Historically UPS only faced competition from USPS for the inexpensive ground based delivery market. However, FedEx recently expanded into the ground market by acquiring RPS (originally Roadway Package System) and rebranded it as FedEx Ground. In addition, DHL acquired Airborne Express. This acquisition significantly increases DHL's presence in the U.S. which will add more competition to the ground delivery market.
UPSLogo.png
| Contents |
Code data
- IATA Code : 5X
- ICAO Code : UPS
- AAR reporting marks: UPOZ, UPSZ, UPWZ
Brief history
UPS_mailbox.jpg
- 1907 - American Messenger Company was founded by James E. Casey in Seattle, Washington. The company delivered messages and small packages in the Seattle area.
- 1913 - Merger with Evert McCabe, company renamed Merchant Parcel Delivery.
- 1919 - Renamed United Parcel Service and expands to Oakland, California
- 1961 - Familiar shield logo designed by Paul Rand introduced.
- 1975 - UPS completes expansion to all 48 contiguous states in the United States. UPS also begins International service to Canada.
- 1977 - After Congress deregulated air cargo industry in November, UPS started air delivery service.
- 1997 - On August 4, 185,000 Teamsters union UPS hourly employees walked off the job after contract negotiations stalled. UPS was effectively shut down for 16 days and lost a great deal of business to competitors. This was the first nationwide strike at UPS, although there had been numerous localized strikes in the past.
- 1999 - UPS changes from a private to publicly traded company. At the time, it was the largest Initial Public Offering in United States history.
- 2001 - UPS buys Mail Boxes Etc., a company primarily in the business of package shipping, receiving, and mailbox services, and renames the stores The UPS Store.
- 2003 - On March 25, UPS unveiled a new worldwide branding program including a new logo, web site and the redesign of all 66,000 UPS vehicles. The slogan "Synchronizing the World of Commerce" is introduced. As part of the campaign UPS dropped the name "United Parcel Service" based on the premise that UPS does not just ship parcels (packages) anymore; since they ship a vast array of packages, letters and objects.
- May 2005 - UPS agrees to buy Overnite Corporation, formerly owned by Union Pacific Railroad, for $1.25 billion in cash.
Chief executives
- 1907 - 1962 James E. Casey
- 1962 - 1972 George D. Smith
- 1972 - 1973 Paul Oberkotter
- 1973 - 1980 Harold Oberkotter
- 1980 - 1984 George Lamb
- 1984 - 1990 John W. Rogers
- 1990 - 1997 Kent C. "Oz" Nelson
- 1997 - 2001 James P. "Jim" Kelly
- 2002 - Present Mike Eskew
System design
Upstruck.jpg
UPS's Parcel Network is based on a hub and spoke model. UPS operates centers which feed parcels to hubs where parcels are sorted and forwarded to its destination. Centers typically are the point of entry for parcels and send the parcels to one or more hubs. A hub is a location where many centers send packages to be sorted and sent back out to other centers or hubs. For example, a parcel being shipped from Wilmington, NC would be picked up by a driver and taken to the 23rd street center, where it would be loaded on a trailer that is sent to Raleigh, NC. At Raleigh, this package joins packages from all over the state, and is forwarded to the next point along its way — let's say Chicago. Once the package is in Chicago, it would be sorted and forwarded to the appropriate delivery center where it would be loaded onto a package car and delivered.
| UPS Hubs (United States) | ||
|---|---|---|
| City | 5 letter Code | Comment |
| Greensboro, NC | GRENC | |
| Raleigh, NC | RALNC | |
| Charlotte, NC | CHANC | |
| Richmond, VA | RICVA | |
| Roanoke, VA | ROAVA | |
| Columbia, SC | COLSC | |
| Atlanta, GA | ATLGA | |
| Pleasant Dale, GA | PLEGA | |
| Charleston, WV | CHAWV | |
| Knoxville, TN | KNOTN | |
| White's Creek, TN | WHITN | In Nashville |
| Montgomery, AL | MONAL | |
| Jacksonville, FL | JACFL | |
| Orlando, FL | ORLFL | |
| Lexngton, KY | LEXKY | |
| Louisville, KY | SDFAS | Main Air Hub |
| Indianapolis, IN | I81IN | |
| Chicago Area | CCHIL | Consolidated Hub |
| Minneapolis, MN | MINMN | |
| Saint Louis, MO | EARMO | Located in Earth City |
| Columbus, OH | COLOH | |
| Middleburg Heights, OH | MIDOH | |
| Toledo, OH | TOLOH | |
| Detroit, MI | DETMI | |
| New Stanton, PA | NEWPA | |
UPS Airlines
(as of May 2005)
- 42 Airbus A300F4
- 7 Boeing 747-100
- 6 Boeing 747-200
- 72 Boeing 757-200
- 32 Boeing 767-300
- 13 MD-11
UPS Airlines has ordered 10 Airbus A380 freighters and has options on 10 more. It is purchasing 10 in return for cancelling part of an existing commitment to the Airbus A300 freighter and will receive the A380 aircraft between 2009 and 2012 (ref: Airliner World, March 2005).
Trivia
- International Parcel Service is a fictional delivery company based loosely on UPS. It is featured on the television sitcom The King of Queens. Instead of brown, the IPS trucks and uniforms are green. Employees of the company include Doug Heffernan (Kevin James) and Deacon Palmer (Victor Williams).
- NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett has appeared in UPS commercials, and his No. 88 Ford Taurus is sponsored by the company. In most of the commercials, UPS employees constantly ask Jarrett to race their trucks, and one new ad features all company trucks being replaced by copycats of his Ford, complete with the No. 88 and UPS logo.
See also
- MaxiCode - The new square barcode like symbols appearing on UPS packages
- Charles McKinley
External links
- UPS corporate website
- Yahoo! - United Parcel Service, Inc. Company Profile
- Brown Cafe - Information and resources for UPS employees, retirees and shareowners. Not sponsored or endorsed by United Parcel Service
References
- Trains News Wire (May 17, 2005), UPS to buy Overnite trucking company. Retrieved May 18, 2005.