UPS
United Parcel Service (UPS) is a parcel delivery and supply chain management company, one of the earliest American shipping companies, headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, part of the Greater Atlanta metropolitan area.
On August 28, 1907, James Casey founded the American Messenger Company with Claude Ryan in Seattle, Washington, with a capital of just $100. Most deliveries at the time were made on foot, with bicycles used for longer trips.
In 1913, the messenger company acquired its first delivery vehicle, a Ford Model T. Casey and Ryan merged with a competitor, Everett McCabe, forming the parcel delivery business. They introduced consolidated delivery, combining packages directed to a specific neighborhood on a single delivery vehicle.
In 1916, Charlie Soderstrom joined the parcel business to expand operations and bring more vehicles to the growing company.
In 1919, the company expanded outside Seattle for the first time to Oakland, California, and changed its name to United Parcel Service (UPS), reflecting that operations were unified under the same organization, while specifying the type of services provided.
In 1922, UPS obtained common carrier rights from a company in Los Angeles, California, becoming one of the few companies in the United States authorized to offer common carrier services.
Initially, the common carrier service was limited to a small area around Los Angeles, but by 1927, it had expanded to regions up to 125 miles outside the city. In 1924, UPS first implemented a conveyor belt system to handle packages.
By 1930, UPS unified services had begun in New York City, followed shortly by other major cities in the East and Midwest.
The use of common carrier delivery across all customers put UPS in direct competition with the U.S. Postal Service and the Interstate Commerce Commission.
The first city outside California to use common carrier services was Chicago, Illinois, in 1953.
Air service was first used by UPS in 1929 through private airlines, but the Great Depression and low volume halted air operations.
In 1953, UPS launched UPS Blue Label Air, offering two-day service to major cities along the East and West Coasts.
In 1975, UPS moved its headquarters to Greenwich, Connecticut, and began serving all 48 contiguous U.S. states, becoming the first parcel delivery company to deliver to every address in the continental U.S.
That same year, UPS began international operations in Canada, followed by West Germany in 1976. On February 28, 1976, UPS Canada Limited started operations in Toronto, Ontario. The UPS Canada headquarters is located in Burlington, Ontario.
UPS launched Next Day Air in 1985 for all 48 states plus Puerto Rico. In 1988, UPS Airlines was established with Federal Aviation Administration approval, quickly becoming the fastest-growing airline in history, and today ranks as the tenth largest airline in the U.S.
Domestic air service to Germany was added in 1989. In 1991, UPS moved its headquarters to Sandy Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
In 1992, UPS acquired both Holfast and Carifast, which were rebranded under UPS Supply Chain Solutions. Holfast provided balloon transport and truck networks for Carifast. By 1993, UPS was delivering up to 11.5 million packages and documents daily.
The large volume of UPS customers in the 1990s drove the company to develop new technologies to improve efficiency. A handheld device called the Delivery Information Acquisition Device (DIAD) was created to record and upload delivery information to the UPS network as drivers picked up packages.
In 1992, UPS began electronically tracking all ground shipments. In 1994, UPS.com launched, providing a web interface that gave customers direct access to operational information.
In 1995, UPS acquired Sonicair to provide logistics services for parts and compete with other logistics companies. That same year, UPS launched UPS Logistics Group to facilitate global supply chain management solutions and customer consulting services.
In 1997, a strike by 185,000 Teamsters members halted UPS operations for 16 days.
In 1998, UPS Capital was established to enable companies to grow their businesses through a comprehensive suite of integrated financial services.
In 1999, UPS expanded into Latin America via Air Challenge, and PO boxes were integrated into the UPS network. On November 10, 1999, UPS became a publicly traded company.
In 2001, UPS acquired PO boxes as part of its network. In 2003, approximately 3,000 PO boxes were rebranded within the UPS system.
In 2004, UPS entered heavy freight operations by acquiring Menlo Worldwide Forwarding for $150 million, assuming $110 million in long-term debt.
On August 5, 2005, UPS completed its acquisition of Overnite Transportation for $1.25 billion after approval by the Federal Trade Commission and Overnite shareholders.
On April 28, 2006, Overnite officially became part of UPS. On October 3, 2005, UPS acquired Lynx Express in the UK for £55.5 million ($97.1 million), after European Commission approval.
In 2007, UPS celebrated its 100th anniversary. In 2008, UPS formed a cargo alliance with All Nippon Airways, a member of the Star Alliance.
On March 19, 2012, UPS announced its intent to acquire TNT Express for $6.8 billion to expand its presence in European and Asian markets. However, the deal was blocked in January 2013 after the European Commission rejected it due to competition concerns.
In February 2012, UPS acquired Kiala, a Brussels-based company providing e-commerce retailers with parcel delivery to traditional retail locations.
🔗 For more information, visit the official website: UPS.com
