Martin Placek
Research expert covering transportation and electronics
United Parcel Service - statistics & facts
United Parcel Service (UPS) is one of the world's largest courier and local package delivery service providers. Headquartered in Georgia, the United States (U.S.), the company is also a supply chain management solutions provider and operates its airline and air cargo delivery service based in Louisville, Kentucky.
After experiencing an increase in revenue following the surge of e-commerce sales during the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022, the revenue of package delivery providers fell in 2023. That year, UPS generated 91 billion U.S. dollars in revenue, down from around 100.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2022 and 97.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2020.
Business segments and competitors
UPS Supply Chain Solutions is one of the leading logistics companies in the United States. After acquiring the less-than-truckload company "Overnight Transportation" in 2005, UPS officially renamed it UPS Freight the following year. UPS' revenue within the supply chain and freight segment amounted to approximately 13.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2023. That same year, the company's domestic package revenue amounted to around 60 billion U.S. dollars. Revenue generated from international package delivery stood at about 17.8 billion U.S. dollars. UPS's main domestic competitors include the United States Postal Service (USPS) and FedEx Corporation, while some of its international competitors include Canada Post, the Royal Mail, and Deutsche Post.A short history of UPS
UPS was founded in Seattle in 1907, bearing the name "American Messenger Company." The company would later change its name in 1919 after it expanded its operations outside of Seattle for the first time. UPS Next Day Air Service was launched in 1985 for all 48 states, including Puerto Rico, and in 1988, UPS Airlines was established. In 2001, UPS purchased Mail Boxes Etc., Inc and would later rebrand it as "The UPS Store." UPS entered the heavy freight business in 2014 with UPS Supply Chain Solutions. The company has since grown to become one of the world's leading freight transportation companies, with around 500,000 employees.
