UPS history

By Christmas 1912, it had 100 employees and a second office closer to Seattle's retail district, at 1602 1/2 4th Avenue.

Until 1913, all special delivery mail entering Seattle was distributed by the American Messenger Service.

By 1915, Merchants' Parcel Delivery was using four autos and five motorcycles, and employing only 20 foot messengers.

In 1916, Charlie Soderstrom joined Merchants Parcel Delivery bringing in more vehicles for the growing delivery business.

By 1918, three of Seattle's largest department stores had become regular customers of Merchants' Parcel Delivery, disposing of their own delivery cars and trucks (which Casey and his associates often purchased, painted brown, and added to their growing fleet).

The new logo kept the shield that had been part of the logo since 1919, though the shield was modernized with a more three-dimensional look.

Expansion into Los Angeles, California—then the fastest growing city in the United States—took place in 1922.

By 1927, UPS had expanded to include all the major cities on the Pacific Coast.

The firm diversified into air delivery services in 1929 via its new United Air Express division, which had convinced airlines to allow UPS packages on passenger planes.

1930: Operations are expanded to New York City, which also becomes the location of the company's new headquarters.

He and his siblings -- George, Harry, and Marguerite -- had established the Foundation in 1948, in honor of their mother.

1953: UPS begins a steady expansion of its common-carrier parcel business, through which it picks up parcels from anyone and takes them to anyone else; UPS Air is launched as a two-day air express service connecting major cities on the East and West Coasts.

Simultaneously, the corporation revamped its logo for the first time since 1961.

Jim Casey retired in 1962; he was succeeded as CEO by George D. Smith.

In 1966, Casey sharpened the focus of the Foundation to the welfare of children in long-term foster care.

UPS handled 500 million packages in 1969 for 165,000 regular customers.

In 1970 Congress considered a reform of the United States Postal Service that would allow it to subsidize its parcel post operations with profits from its first-class mail.

Federal Express Corporation (FedEx), however, which began operations in 1973, was siphoning off a growing amount of UPS's business.

In accepting packages from the general public, UPS put itself in competition with the parcel post service of the United States Post Office (now United States Postal Service). Not until 1975 did UPS clear away regulatory barriers to operation in all 48 contiguous states.

In 1976 UPS launched service in West Germany with 120 delivery vans.

By 1978, the Blue Label air service was offered in all 50 United States states.

George C. Lamb, Jr., succeeded Harold Oberkotter as UPS chairman in 1980.

Package volume grew by 6 percent in 1981.

In 1982 UPS ran its first-ever television ads, trying to convince executives that two-day service was fast enough for most packages.

Cofounder Casey was active in UPS management until his death in 1983.

UPS paid $208 million for an additional 13 cargo jets in 1984.

UPS Next Day Air Service was launched in 1985 for all 48 contiguous states plus Puerto Rico.

In 1986, to compete with technology developed by Federal Express, UPS launched efforts to automate door-to-door package tracking.

Entering the field of overnight air delivery, the company started UPS Airlines in 1988.

International sales accounted for 6 percent of annual revenues in 1989, compared to 2 percent the previous year; this growth in international activity stemmed from the addition of several countries to UPS shipping routes.

UPS paid $11.3 million for a 9.5 percent stake in rival Mailboxes, Etc. in 1990.

The company's management structure was relatively informal, stressing partnership and the involvement of management at all levels. Its 3,700 stockholders (a number raised to 23,000 by 1991) were its own top and middle managers and their families.

By 1992, the corporation was investing more money in computers than in ubiquitous brown vehicles.

The company's Worldwide Logistics subsidiary (formed in 1993) offered clients everything from inventory management to warehousing and, of course, delivery.

In 1994, UPS.com debuted, and provided an interface to make what was primarily internal operational information available for customer access.

UPS began allowing clients to track their packages on the Internet in 1995.

The strike cost UPS $700 million in lost revenue, resulting in less than 1 percent sales growth for the year and a decline in profits to $909 million from the 1996 figure of $1.15 billion.

Although a highly publicized strike that year cost the firm roughly $200 million in 1997, sales exceeded $22 billion that year.

In 1998, the firm began working with online retailers to place UPS package shipment data on their Web sites so that shoppers could avoid the extra step of securing a tracking number from the retailer and then logging onto the UPS Web site.

"A Century of Business," Puget Sound Business Journal, September 17, 1999; Junior Achievement of Greater Puget Sound Hall of Fame Series; "Company History," UPS Website, accessed September.

Rynecki, David. "Net Effects: Why E-Commerce Makes UPS a Complete Package, But Not FDX." Fortune, February 7, 2000.

FedEx: Ground Wars." BusinessWeek Online, May 21, 2001.

Also in 2002, UPS extended its money-back guarantee for on-time ground-delivered packages to include residential shipments within the continental United States, and it also launched an advertising campaign featuring a new slogan, "What can Brown do for you?"

The Atlanta-based business delivered approximately 3.4 billion items throughout more than 200 countries and territories in 2003.

In 2004, UPS entered the heavy freight business with purchase of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, a former subsidiary of Menlo Worldwide.

On August 5, 2005, UPS announced that it has completed its acquisition of less-than-truckload (LTL) trucking company Overnite Transportation for US$1.25 billion.

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 code-share to transport member cargo in 2008, similarly to an airline alliance.

In 2011 UPS My Choice® tool launches, allowing customers to schedule deliveries based on their preferences.

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.

Merchants Parcel Delivery fleet of vehicles, Seattle, February 12, 2017

In May 2019, UPS launched a partnership with autonomous trucking startup, TuSimple to carry cargo across Phoenix, Arizona, and Tucson, Arizona.

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.