UPS
STRATEGIC PLANNING AT UNITED PARCEL SERVICE
UPS has set a new business standard called synchronized commerce. With the widest
portfolio of services in the industry, we move goods, information and funds precisely so our
customers have the solutions they need to compete on the world stage.
David Abney, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
United Parcel Service (UPS)
Company Background
History
UPS began its started in 1907 with pioneering teenagers Jim Casey and Claude Ryan who
borrowed $100 from friends to start a small company known as the American Messenger Company
in Seattle, Washington. They saw a unique set of business needs and expanded on a vision and
from its humble origins delivering messages for the city of Seattle it has become a multi-billion-
dollar corporation known today as United Parcel Service (UPS). Since then, the growth of the
business has taken UPS from bike-messenger services and retail store deliveries to global freight
and web-based tracking to innovative financial and mail services. Over the 108 years since its
founding, it had transformed itself several times, first into a package -delivery company, then into
an international air transportation company, and finally, in the late1990s, into a logistics company.
While embracing new technological and strategic business developments, UPS also took a bold
financial step for an established company. On November 10, 1999, UPS offered 10 percent of its
stock to the public for the first time. This initial public offering gave UPS the ability to use a
publicly traded security to make strategic acquisitions. Prior to this, UPS had been owned primarily
by management employees, a practice established by Jim Casey in the 1920s when he gave staff
the opportunity to purchase company shares. After 92 years as a private company, UPS went public
in one of the largest corporate initial public offering (IOP).
By 2005, UPS was the world’s largest package-delivery company, as well as a leading global
provider of specialized transportation and logistics services. It served more than 200 countries and
territories worldwide. UPS airlines, is one of the largest logistic airlines in the United States. In
2001, UPS ventured toward retail business by acquiring Mail Boxes Etc., Inc., the world’s largest
franchisor of retail shipping, postal and business service centers. Within two years, approximately
3,000 Mail Boxes Etc. locations in the United States re-branded as The UPS Store and began
offering lower UPS-direct shipping rates. The stores remain locally owned and operated, and
continue to offer the same variety of postal and business services, with the same convenience and
world-class service. UPS continues to expand service worldwide. In Europe, Asia, and South
America, customers enjoy an unmatched portfolio of time-definite and supply chain services. With
a workforce of 384,000, only Wal-Mart and McDonald’s had more employees. In September, 2010
UPS launched a new brand platform to promote the company’s expanded logistics and supply chain
management capabilities.
Since becoming a publicly traded company in 1999, UPS has significantly expanded the scope of
its capabilities primarily through the acquisition of more than 40 companies, including industry
leaders in trucking and air freight, retail shipping and business services, customs brokerage,
finance and international trade services. As a result, UPS‘s relationship with many of its customers
has deepened to include much more than basic transportation services.
In 2013 UPS advanced worldwide service through becoming the first global express delivery
company to be wholly-owned in Vietnam. The change allows UPS to better connect Vietnam’s
rapidly expanding economy to world markets through the UPS network. UPS expanded into the
healthcare market to better reach customers on a global scale with facility openings in China,
Hungary, Australia, Italy and North America.
Headquarters
Atlanta, Georgia
Executive Team
David Abney, UPS Chief Executive Officer
Jim Barber, President, UPS International
David Barnes, Chief Information and Global Business Services Officer
Teresa M. Finley, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing
Alan Gershenhorn, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
Myron Gray, President, U.S. Operations
Kate Gutmann, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Sales and Solutions
Teri Plummer McClure, Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Richard Peretz, Chief Financial Officer
Mark Wallace, Senior Vice President, Global Engineering and Sustainability
UPS Fact Sheet
Founded in Seattle, Wash.
August 28, 1907
Headquarters
Atlanta, Ga.
Worldwide web address
www.ups.com
Chief Executive Officer
David Abney
2014 revenue
$58.2 billion
Employees
435,000 (354,000 U.S.; 81,000 International)
PACKAGE OPERATIONS
2014 revenue
$48.8 billion
2014 delivery volume
4.6 billion packages and documents
Daily delivery volume
18.0 million packages and documents
Daily U.S. air volume
2.4 million packages and documents
Daily international volume
2.7 million packages and documents
in North America and Europe
Customers
1.6 million pick-up, 8.2 million delivery
Online tracking
Average 58.2 million daily tracking requests
UPS Access Point™ locations, more than 19,000
Operating facilities
1,990
including 5,461 alternative-fuel vehicles fuel vehicles
UPS jet aircraft
237
Chartered aircraft
302
Airports served
Domestic – 382; International – 346
