United Parcel Service (UPS) is a leading provider of worldwide supply chain solutions and the world’s largest package delivery corporation. It shipped 6.3 billion parcels in 2020, owing to increased global B2C volume from the rise in consumer e-commerce. In 2020, total revenue was around $84.6 billion.
Operating in more than 220 countries and territories, UPS is committed to moving the world forward by delivering what matters. UPS and its more than 500,000 UPSers across the world are a transportation and logistics leader, offering innovative solutions to customers large and small. UPS began as a modest messenger business formed by adventurous adolescents with a $100 loan. UPS recognizes and values its role in helping to build communities that are safer, stronger, and more resilient, based on justice and economic opportunity for everyone, and supported by a healthy, sustainable global environment.
Transportation, distribution, contract logistics, ground freight, ocean freight, air freight, customs brokerage, insurance, and finance are among the company’s logistics services. The company is divided into three segments: domestic package in the United States, international package in the United States, and supply chain and freight in the United States. The U.S. Domestic Package segment provides a comprehensive range of domestic air and ground package transportation services in the United States. Small package operations in Europe, Asia Pacific, Canada, Latin America, and the Indian subcontinent, Middle East, and Africa (ISMEA) make up the International Package segment, which provides a variety of day and time-definite international shipping services.
Forwarding, truckload brokerage, logistics, UPS Freight, UPS Capital, and other industries make up Supply Chain & Freight. On August 28, 1907, James E. Casey and Claude Ryan formed the corporation, which is located in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Magnificent History
Two teenagers founded what would become the world’s largest parcel delivery service in 1907. Claude Ryan and Jim Casey founded the American Messenger Company in a Seattle basement with a $100 loan.
The corporation initially expanded outside of Seattle in 1919, to Oakland, California, when it was given the name United Parcel Service. In the same year, the company’s cars were painted in their distinctive brown color, which symbolized refinement, sophistication, and professionalism.
UPS expands to the East Coast for the first time, relocating its corporate headquarters from Los Angeles to 331 East 38th Street in New York City.
UPS launched common carrier operations in 1953, serving commercial and residential shippers in a number of cities, including Chicago, which was the first city outside of California to do so. The corporation also resumed air service, giving two-day delivery to major East and West Coast cities (after a botched two-year effort in 1929). UPS cargo flew on ordinary commercial aircraft, just like the first time.
UPS was the first package delivery firm to cover every address in the continental United States when it opened its doors in 1975. Within UPS, this extraordinary interconnection of service areas was dubbed the ‘Golden Link.’ That same year, the company went abroad for the first time offering services in Toronto.
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UPS Next Day Air was the first air delivery network to serve every address in the 48 contiguous states, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico when it launched in 1985. UPS launched its first intercontinental air service between the United States and Europe the same year.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave UPS permission to operate its own planes in 1988, and UPS Airlines was born.
UPS expanded its service to the Middle East, Africa, and the Pacific Rim in 1989, after a decade of expanding its presence throughout the Americas and Europe. UPS is currently active in over 220 countries and territories throughout the world.
UPS relocated its corporate headquarters to Atlanta in 1994, focusing on energy efficiency and comprehensive tree protection and replacement program. The company’s current address is 55 Glenlake Parkway. UPS.com made its debut this year as well.
UPS broadened its mission in the 1990s to become a true enabler of global commerce. As a result, on November 10, 1999, the company took the momentous step of becoming public for the first time.
UPS joined the retail market in 2001 when it purchased Mail Boxes Etc., Inc., the world’s largest franchisee of retail shipping, postal, and business service centers. Approximately 3,000 Mail Boxes Etc. locations across the United States rebranded as The UPS Store and began offering lower UPS-direct shipping rates within two years.
UPS began offering Saturday ground delivery and Saturday pickup services after growing its portfolio over the decade, including acquiring tech-driven freight brokerage Coyote Logistics in 2015. It was the first time in business history that shippers were offered industry-leading Saturday options.
On June 1, 2020, Carol B. Tomé took over as UPS’s 12th CEO, making her the company’s 113-year history’s first female CEO.
Also Read: How FedEx Pioneered Internet Business In The Global Logistics Industry
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