United Parcel Service Inc. is in talks with at least one U.S. trucking firm to launch in-home bulk delivery service.
Category: UPS News
United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) is in talks with at least one U.S. trucking firm to launch an in-home delivery service for large, heavy goods such as couches and treadmills, as the world’s largest package deliverer looks to cash in on one the fastest growing segments of online retail.
UPS and its rival FedEx Corp (FDX.N) currently deliver parcels up to 150 pounds (68.04 kg) in weight to a person’s door step, and neither carries packages into a person’s home or handles so-called “white glove” services such as product assembly or installation.
UPS told Reuters it is now eyeing the furniture delivery business – one of the fastest-growing segments of online retail – with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Wayfair Inc (W.N) and other e-commerce companies competing for market share against chains like Crate and Barrel and big-box stores.
A worker at the UPS warehouse on Hartsfield Road is accused of systematically diverting packages to himself so he could steal the contents and sell the items on eBay.
Tallahassee Police arrested Nicholas Ocampo, 19, on Thursday.
Investigators say Ocampo made labels addressed to himself and placed them on shipments at the UPS facility, so they would be delivered to his home instead of their intended recipient.
United Parcel Service is making moves to accommodate our collective habit of getting everything delivered to our front doors.
The company plans on reducing costs and driving growth in its operations, responding to increasing parcel volumes and competition from Amazon, which expects to roll out its own logistics network beginning this year.
It’s also adapting to another new normal: delivery to individual consumers has now overtaken delivery to businesses (a segment for which UPS is still the leading provider), a more expensive undertaking because of the difference in density, with drivers dropping off one or two packages to an address rather than a few dozen. In fact, online shopping drove a 4.6 increase in parcel volumes for the company’s U.S. domestic service in the first quarter.
United Parcel Service Inc. is ramping up a “transformation” plan to cut costs across the organization as the delivery firm responds to changes in how people shop and nontraditional competitors such as Amazon.com Inc.
UPS executives on Thursday spoke often of accelerating a review of the company’s operations after it reported its latest quarterly results. The company is now delivering a majority of packages to consumers, rather than businesses, in the U.S., a more expensive delivery since it means delivering fewer packages to more stops.
“The pace of change of business is accelerating so quickly,” Chief Executive David Abney said on the company’s first-quarter earnings call. “We feel like we had to respond with a sense of urgency.”