United Parcel Service
United Parcel Service, Inc. is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has expanded to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS Mail Innovations and UPS SurePost.
UPS is the largest courier company in the world by revenue, with annual revenues around US$85 billion in 2020, ahead of competitors DHL and FedEx. UPS's main international hub, UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky, is the fifth busiest airport in the world by cargo traffic based on preliminary statistics from ACI, and the third busiest in the U.S. The company is one of the largest private employers in the United States. As of 2023, UPS is third in U.S. parcel volumes shipped since 2015, trailing the United States Postal Service and Amazon.
History
Foundation
On August 28, 1907, James E. Casey founded the American Messenger Company with Claude Ryan in Seattle, Washington, capitalized with $100 in debt. Most deliveries at this time were made on foot and bicycles were used for longer trips.The American Messenger Company focused primarily on package delivery to retail stores with special delivery mail delivered for its largest client, the United States Post Office Department—the predecessor of today's United States Postal Service. In 1913, the company acquired a Ford Model T as its first delivery vehicle. Casey and Ryan merged with a competitor, Evert McCabe, and formed Merchants Parcel Delivery. Consolidated delivery was also introduced, combining packages addressed to a certain neighborhood onto one delivery vehicle.
In 1916, Charlie Soderstrom joined Merchants Parcel Delivery bringing in more vehicles for the growing delivery business. In 1919, the company expanded for the first time outside of Seattle to Oakland, California, and changed its name to United Parcel Service.
The common carrier service was acquired in 1922 from a company in Los Angeles, California. UPS became one of the only companies in the United States to offer common carrier service. At first, common carrier was only limited to a small area around Los Angeles but by 1927 expanded to areas up to 125 miles outside the city. In 1924, a conveyor belt system was debuted for the handling of packages for UPS operations.
In 1930, a consolidated carrier service began in New York City; soon after, the company expanded its services to include other major cities in the East and the Midwest. The use of a common carrier for delivery between all customers placed UPS in direct competition with USPS, and delivering parcels beyond the California border brought it under the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission. The first city for UPS to use common carrier status outside California was Chicago, Illinois, in 1953.
Image:UPSModelT1921.jpg|thumb|330px|Ford Model T UPS delivery vehicle in 1921
Air service through UPS was first used in 1929 through private airlines. However, the Great Depression and a lack of volume ended the service. In 1953, UPS resumed air service called UPS Blue Label Air with two-day service to major cities along the East Coast and West Coast.
Bomb explosion
Shortly before 3:00 a.m, on the morning of December 5, 1974, a package bomb exploded at UPS's Northside center on Beaver Avenue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killing one man and injuring 10 others. The package originated in Erie, Pennsylvania and its destination was the Spectrum Cycle Shop, Forks Church, Armstrong Co.Expansion and diversification
In 1975, UPS moved its headquarters to Greenwich, Connecticut, and began serving all of the 48 contiguous states of the United States. This expansion of operations made UPS the first package delivery company to serve every address in the contiguous United States. Additionally in 1975, UPS went international by establishing operations in Canada. In 1976, UPS established a domestic operation in West Germany.UPS Next Day Air Service was launched in 1985 for all 48 contiguous states plus Puerto Rico. In 1988, UPS Airlines was launched with authorization from the Federal Aviation Administration and became the fastest-growing airline in FAA history – currently the 10th largest airline in the United States. Domestic air service was added to Germany in 1989. In 1991, UPS relocated its headquarters to Sandy Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Following this in 1992, UPS acquired both Haulfast and Carryfast and rebranded them into UPS Supply Chain Solutions. Haulfast provided the pallet haulage and trucking network for the CarryFast group of companies. By 1993, UPS was delivering up to 11.5 million packages and documents per day.
In order for the company to service the large volume of customers in 1991, UPS developed technologies to improve efficiency. A handheld device named the "Delivery Information Acquisition Device" was created to record and upload delivery information to the UPS network immediately upon pickup by every UPS driver. In 1992, UPS began tracking all ground shipments electronically. In 1994, UPS.com debuted, and provided an interface to make what was primarily internal operational information available for customer access.
In 1995, UPS acquired SonicAir to offer service parts logistics and compete with Choice Logistics. In the same year, UPS launched the UPS Logistics Group to facilitate global supply chain management services and consulting for customer needs. In 1997, a walkout by the 185,000 members of the Teamsters shut down UPS for 16 days. In 1998, UPS Capital was established to enable companies to grow their business through a comprehensive menu of integrated financial services through UPS. UPS acquired Challenge Air in 1999 to expand its operations in Latin America.
On November 10, 1999, UPS became a public company in the largest initial public offering of the 20th century.
21st century
In 2001, UPS acquired Mail Boxes Etc., Inc., a franchised network of packing and shipping retail centers across the United States and Canada. In 2003, the company rebranded the Mail Boxes, Etc. network as The UPS Store.In 2004, UPS entered the heavy freight business with the purchase of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, a former subsidiary of Menlo Worldwide; UPS rebranded it as UPS Supply Chain Solutions. The purchase price was US$150 million and the assumption of US$110 million in long-term debt.
On August 5, 2005, UPS announced that it had completed its acquisition of less-than-truckload trucking company Overnite Transportation for US$1.25 billion. This was approved by the FTC and Overnite shareholders on August 4, 2005. On April 28, 2006, Overnite officially became UPS Freight.
In 2005, UPS offered non-stop delivery service between Guangzhou and the United States. On October 3, 2005, UPS completed the purchase of Lynx Express, one of the largest independent parcel carriers in the United Kingdom, for £55.5 million after receiving approval for the transaction from the European Commission. The first joint package car center operation in Dartford, Kent, was opened in 2006.
On August 28, 2007, United Parcel Service celebrated its 100th anniversary. All Nippon Airways, a Star Alliance member, and UPS formed a cargo alliance and codeshare agreement to transport member cargo in 2008, similarly to an airline alliance.
On March 19, 2012, UPS announced that it intended to acquire TNT Express for $6.8 billion, in a move to help expand its presence in European and Asian markets. However, the deal fell through in January 2013, after it was announced that UPS had failed to obtain permission from the European Commission and as such had been blocked on competition grounds.
In February 2012, UPS acquired Brussels-based company Kiala that provides e-commerce retailers the option to have goods delivered to a conventional retail location.
In 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that UPS's operations were hampered by its outdated 20th-century technology, lagging behind its competitors.
In May 2019, UPS launched a partnership with autonomous trucking startup TuSimple to carry cargo across Phoenix, Arizona, and Tucson, Arizona.
In October 2019, UPS won the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones. The certification will allow UPS to deliver health care supplies using a fleet of drones.
On January 29, 2020, UPS announced it was investing in UK start-up Arrival and ordering 10,000 Generation 2 electric vehicles as a step towards a cleaner, more high-tech fleet. The deal runs from 2020 until 2024 and was reported to be worth more than $400 million.
In March 2020, the company appointed Carol Tomé to succeed David Abney as its chief executive officer. It was viewed as a move to steer the parcel delivery company through the turbulence of trade wars, technological disruption and the risk of a pandemic-induced recession.
In March 2020, UPS expanded its autonomous trips with TuSimple by adding an extra route between Phoenix and El Paso, Texas.
In January 2021, UPS announced it had agreed to sell UPS Freight, its less-than-truckload freight business, to TFI International, a Canadian transport and logistics company, for $800 million. UPS said the move would allow it to focus on small-package delivery. At the time of the sale, UPS Freight had about 14,500 employees, approximately 11,000 of them represented by the Teamsters union, and generated an estimated $3.15 billion in revenue in 2020 offering services across the US, Canada, and Mexico. TFI had reported $4.1 billion in revenue in 2019 and already operated truckload and LTL services in Canada. The acquisition was completed in April and UPS Freight was renamed TForce Freight.
In 2021, following the company's shift to target smaller customers to boost profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, UPS reported a 21% jump in their fourth quarter sales to $24.9 billion. CEO Carol Tomé reported that Amazon paid UPS $11.3 billion in shipping in 2020, accounting for 13.3% of the company's revenue.
In September 2021, UPS entered into an agreement to acquire Roadie for an undisclosed amount with the transaction expected to be closed in the fourth quarter.
In May 2022, UPS acquired logistics company Delivery Solutions, a key partner for Walmart's GoLocal network.
In November 2022, it was announced UPS had acquired the healthcare focused, Europe-based warehousing and temperature-controlled transport company, Bomi Group.
In September 2023, it was announced UPS had acquired the Long Beach, California-headquartered time-critical, health care logistics company, MNX for an undisclosed amount.
In October 2023, it was announced UPS had acquired the Los Angeles-headquartered reverse logistics company, Happy Returns from PayPal for an undisclosed amount.
In January 2024, UPS announced that it planned to cut 12,000 jobs and mandate that staff return to the office five days a week. Chief Executive Carol Tomé blamed the move on a "difficult and disappointing year" in 2023.
In July 2024, UPS announced that it had entered in to an agreement to acquire Mexican logistics company Estafeta Mexicana. It is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
In October 2025, the company announced it had reduced its workforce by 48,000 jobs in 2025, with 14,000 positions cut in management and 34,000 positions across its operations.