We will be allowed to carry sidearms. There will be social unrest and deliveries will be made only during daylight hours. No less than 2 people per truck as one delivers and the other guards the truck (heavily armed). This is not in 20 years - this is after the economy collapses in December 2012.
How does that strategy work for peak?
The last delivery every UPSer makes will be delivering the recieving end of a package teleporter to every house in his delivery area. How many people do you think will run under that day? Oh, BTW these things will be outside by the front door and they will actually ring the door bell
UPS will either replicate the FDX business model or they will be out of business. FDX is growing like gangbusters. UPS is struggling to hold on to what they already have. Owner operators and union concessions (non-union has been getting concessions for several years) will be necessary when there's no cost cutting left to cut (were getting close). As FDX improves efficiencies they'll easily continue to take market share in the core UPS business. Hopefully UPS will find a way to offset the loss of core business, but I don't see it happening. It's basic economics. FDX has a lower cost to serve and lower cost equals increased demand. Higher cost equals lower demand. FDX owner operators will continue to be motivated by profit opportunity, thus taking the most profitable packages. UPS will get the stuff FDX doesn't want and our employees will resist productivity as there is no incentive to work harder and no incentive to grow profits. Union employees (other's have no choice) won't accept concessions until the company is on the brink of disaster. It only takes a small reduction in revenue to wipe out all the profits when the fixed costs are high and profit margins as slim.
White trucks - the last sacred thing standing will be the brown trucks, but they won't last much longer...
Not wishful thinking or union bashing, just reality.
What do you think UPS will look like 20 yrs from now. Larger/Smaller. Union/Non-union. Will it go the way of REA and cease to exist?
I can see robots loading trucks in the future because they now have robots delivering packages.There wiill be no more HDV and LDV pick-offs because scanners will direct the package directly to the truck where a loader will be waiting for it. Luckily, because packages come in all sizes, a live person will still be loading. 100 years from now, assuming, UPS is still around, robots will be loading trucks. LOL
I can see robots loading trucks in the future because they now have robots delivering packages.
I saw the future last week. I ordered parts for my car from various vendors. 4 pkgs delivered by USPS, 2 pkgs delivered by FEDEX. OH! I did have 1 pkg delivered by UPS...it was my 3mo supply of medicine from Medco!
In my opinion the reason we that a lot of this stuff comes USPS or fed ex ground is because UPS was to involved pushing for production and the little things and we have missed out on a lot of the internet shipping volume that has popped up in the last few years.