UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain that assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. In addition, UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS SurePost, a subsidiary that passes on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.
The company’s milestones:
– In 1907 – On August 28, 1907, James Casey founded the American Messenger Company with Claude Ryan in Seattle, Washington. Most deliveries at this time were made on foot and bicycles were used for longer trips.
– In 1913 – The company acquired a Model T Ford as its first 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.
– In 1922 – Expansion into Los Angeles, California—then the fastest growing city in the United States—took place in 1922.
– In 1924 – Internal communications became important to the growing company; in 1924, UPS started its first employee newspaper, The Big Idea.
– By 1927 – UPS had expanded to include all the major cities on the Pacific Coast.
– In 1929 – At Mac McCabe’s urging, UPS took a plunge into air delivery, creating the nation’s first air parcel service, United Air Express, in February 1929.
– In 1930 – A consolidated service began in New York City, and soon after in other major cities in the East and the Midwest.
– 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.
– 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.
– In 1976 – UPS established a domestic operation in West Germany.
– In 1985 – 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.
– In 1991 – UPS relocated its headquarters to Sandy Springs, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
– 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.
– On November 10, 1999 – UPS became a public company in the largest initial public offering of the century.
– In 2000 – UPS created eVentures in February of 2000 to focus on various e-commerce initiatives, such as allowing clients to track all of the packages they are receiving, as well as those they are shipping, and the development of Web-based financial services by UPS Capital.
– In 2003 – Approximately 3,000 Mail Boxes Etc., Inc. were rebranded as The UPS Store.
– In 2005 – UPS offered a non-stop delivery service between Guangzhou and the United States.
– In 2011 – UPS My Choice® tool was launched, allowing customers to schedule deliveries based on their preferences.
– In 2016 – UPS Air carried 11.2 million ton-kilometers of freight (one ton carried one kilometer), making it the third largest air cargo company.
– In October 2019 – UPS won the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones.
According to en.wikipedia; zippia.com. Source of photo: internet
