UPS to become the Sears & Robuck Of shipping??

Lineandinitial

Legio patria nostra
That’s an utterly horrible comparison. DHL failed fast and hard. Amazon is taking market share away from multiple sectors and will rival the fictional “Buy N Large” in the near future if no one stops them.

Do you know that DHL is the largest logistics and shipping company in the world?
 

Lineandinitial

Legio patria nostra
Not here in the United States. And Airborne seemed to have a bigger footprint here before DHL bought them out. Now seeing a DHL/Airborne van is like spotting a unicorn.
You’re right about that in the US.
I was just pointing out that they are pretty successful overall.
Revenues are around $85B!

ATSG owns what used to be ABX.
“Airborne” operates airplanes for DHL (and AMZN), but they are not owned by Deutsche Post (DHL).
 
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Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
You’re right about that in the US.
I was just pointing out that they are pretty successful overall.
Revenues are around $85B!

ATSG owns what used to be ABX.
“Airborne” operates airplanes for DHL (and AMZN), but they are not owned by Deutsche Bank (DHL).
The vans that were delivering for Airborne in my area were literally replaced with DHL vans. Some of them remained branded as Airborne for months after the takeover. They carried a big stick to the fight and saturated tv and internet with commercials announcing their arrival. Even took a shot or two at UPS and FedEx in a couple of them. Then….POOF….they faded back to less than what Airborne had been.
 

hardcharger

Well-Known Member
Clueless absolutely not I’m just not naïve with my head in the sand what it’s not about whether you’re shaved or not it’s the appearance of the driver what’s the difference between a FedEx driver and a UPS driver and or Amazon nothing that’s my point it’s not about whether you are shaved or have sleeve tattoos or piercings through your eyebrows and nose it’s the pride in the job in that no longer exists. And of course we are the most expensive in the industry So why would you pay more for the same poor Service has the other companies if you’re smart you wouldn’t.


That’s all I’m saying I was just wondering if other people had started to see you too that’s all.
Yes. I’m seeing it as well. Been with the company for almost 30 years so I’ve seen the decline you speak of. UPS is more about quantity now then quality now.
 

Lineandinitial

Legio patria nostra
The vans that were delivering for Airborne in my area were literally replaced with DHL vans. Some of them remained branded as Airborne for months after the takeover. They carried a big stick to the fight and saturated tv and internet with commercials announcing their arrival. Even took a shot or two at UPS and FedEx in a couple of them. Then….POOF….they faded back to less than what Airborne had been.
I thought that’s what you meant.
Just like TNT that is big in Asia/Oceana. They tried, failed, but now has FDX doing all US delivery work.
 

Coldworld

60 months and counting
LOL....The things you bring up are minor challenges that will be overcome.
Give it some time. Look how far military UCAVs have come and not just the Israeli Kochav and US Reaper....
You do know what people are doing to waymo vehicles being tested in Arizona..right??
 

Buffet Master

FEEDAH FATTY
Day to day?

So, you are saying.....20-30 years...max....we will have human level A.I. Totally autonomous deliveries without human intervention? Drones/droids like in Star Wars movie? Maybe I Robot?

Really?

Just totally autonomous UPS/USPS/AMAZON vehicles going about their business.

BTW, war was fought the same as 1921-1941. And airplanes basically still operate on the same basic principals as do guns.

Phones are different. True. But they aren't autonomous....under any stretch of imagination.

Hey man, we have bat poop crazies looking to get rid of jet fuel......with no replacement.

Say, can you imagine 2 UPS autonomous feeders exchanging trailers at a meet point....in 20 years? One's late, the other has lighting problems....

Now, think hard about that. Or one hits a deer....how does the autonomous vehicle assess the damage? Droid gets out and looks at it? Beams back the images to another droid? See? And the autonomous tow truck arrives....lololol.

Yes, it is so far fetched(based on anything now or foreseeable future) as to be laughable.
I said day to day in 2021. And 20 to 30 years technology time is vastly different now than it was in 2000, 1990 etc. And that bell curve is accelerating.

20 years ago HBO had a show based on people ordering and living with realistic sex dolls. Google sex robots and see just what leaps and bounds happened in 20 years. Go watch video of what the top of the line tech package in a Tesla vehicle can do. In less than 10 years that will look like child's play.

Who says that you need a humanoid looking robot to deliver packages? A practical solution could be something that looks completely different. We are 9 years apart in age I believe. We both do what everybody does... We think that say 1990 was pretty much same as now. It was not, technology was nothing like now. Especially accessibility to it for the average person.

Scientific and physic based principles have nothing to do with this conversation. Do the same physics that caused lift of a WW1 bi-plane apply to a modern fighter jet? Of course. That has zero to do with the technology of the machine involved.

I think the technology will be there for many autonomous things in 30 years, things we can't even really picture. But, one thing does always slow down progress and that is our resistance to it. Perhaps tomorrow they debut a 100 percent safe passenger style bus that is fully automated. How many people are going to get on it? How long do people fight using it? Long enough for the company to go bankrupt perhaps? Who knows.

Hopefully we are around in 30 years and be thinking back to how 2022 was a simpler time.
 

quad decade guy

Well-Known Member
I said day to day in 2021. And 20 to 30 years technology time is vastly different now than it was in 2000, 1990 etc. And that bell curve is accelerating.

20 years ago HBO had a show based on people ordering and living with realistic sex dolls. Google sex robots and see just what leaps and bounds happened in 20 years. Go watch video of what the top of the line tech package in a Tesla vehicle can do. In less than 10 years that will look like child's play.

Who says that you need a humanoid looking robot to deliver packages? A practical solution could be something that looks completely different. We are 9 years apart in age I believe. We both do what everybody does... We think that say 1990 was pretty much same as now. It was not, technology was nothing like now. Especially accessibility to it for the average person.

Scientific and physic based principles have nothing to do with this conversation. Do the same physics that caused lift of a WW1 bi-plane apply to a modern fighter jet? Of course. That has zero to do with the technology of the machine involved.

I think the technology will be there for many autonomous things in 30 years, things we can't even really picture. But, one thing does always slow down progress and that is our resistance to it. Perhaps tomorrow they debut a 100 percent safe passenger style bus that is fully automated. How many people are going to get on it? How long do people fight using it? Long enough for the company to go bankrupt perhaps? Who knows.

Hopefully we are around in 30 years and be thinking back to how 2022 was a simpler time.
I agree...mostly.

Again. We probably have the equipment. We don't have the AI.

Note: The human brain and it's ability to reason and think has not been duplicated anywhere else. If, then the universe is the limit.
 

Doing time

Well-Known Member
After working for this company for more than 33 years I am utterly shellshocked at the reputation this company has Now. Between people complaining about how packages are late and/or missed delivered not to mention just leaving them at the door after business hours what has happened? we are losing big shippers left and right and no one seems to care And of course we don’t even look professional out there anymore. It’s truly disheartening and with all of the new competition out there it’s hard to believe UPS can be competitive considering where the highest priced in the industry with such a piss poor service with that being said I truly believe this new contract will tell a lot about the direction this company will be going. But I truly believe in the end if we don’t change your ways we will become the Sears & Robuck of the shipping industry bankrupt!!!
While I haven’t been here as long as you have, I have been around for 26 years. I agree that the company is more focused on the bottom line than service these days. However, there are guys like this at every building. Show up an hour early for work and talk to anyone who will listen about how we will be out of business. First it was the post office that was going to put us out of business, then DHL ground, then Fed Ex ground, now Amazon. We aren’t even in the same business as Amazon. We don’t have warehouses full of Chinese crap to sell. We just deliver stuff. If one day everything in the world is sold by Amazon then yes we will be out of a job. Until then just show up and collect your paycheck until they tell you that you don’t have a job anymore.
 

Hot Carl

Well-Known Member
I also wonder about this company's future with each shipper we lose. Being a cover driver, I've watched several pickup accounts on the routes I cover basically die on the vine.

And then I see what I saw this week. I had an apartment complex with a locker near the leasing office. I bring everything I can put in there and text the regular driver so she can give me the code so I can use it. I go up there and the first thing I notice is that some bozo FedEx driver just dumped everyone's packages that he had next to the lockers. Didn't even try to put them in. Just dropped it all there. I first saw them on Wednesday. Went back in yesterday, most of them are still there. Had the same route again today and, yup. Still just sitting there. This is an unsecured building that anyone can walk into.

I expect that kind of :censored2: out of Amazon's drivers (I've literally sat and watched them do it), but for our foremost competitor that's just downright sloppy.
 

pkgdriver

Well-Known Member
I also wonder about this company's future with each shipper we lose. Being a cover driver, I've watched several pickup accounts on the routes I cover basically die on the vine.

And then I see what I saw this week. I had an apartment complex with a locker near the leasing office. I bring everything I can put in there and text the regular driver so she can give me the code so I can use it. I go up there and the first thing I notice is that some bozo FedEx driver just dumped everyone's packages that he had next to the lockers. Didn't even try to put them in. Just dropped it all there. I first saw them on Wednesday. Went back in yesterday, most of them are still there. Had the same route again today and, yup. Still just sitting there. This is an unsecured building that anyone can walk into.

I expect that kind of :censored2: out of Amazon's drivers (I've literally sat and watched them do it), but for our foremost competitor that's just downright sloppy.

Express or Ground?
Has been standard ops for Ground for many years.
 

BrownStains

Well-Known Member
I know somebody that works for fedex express and said they’re volume has been down from previous years because of amazon. So it’s not just ups .
 
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