BrownCafe

1. UPS

United Parcel Service has been one of the least talked about winners of 2020. Along with its rival, FedEx, the two package delivery stocks benefited from a surge in e-commerce and shipping. Sure, folks chose to shop more online than in-store. But people also shopped more in general.

Shockingly enough, consumer spending rose during 2020, savings increased, and household debt decreased for the simple fact that people spent less money on vacations and experiences. Much of the money that would have been spent on airfare, food, and entertainment was instead spent on things like home goods, athleisure clothing, and Peloton bikes. And UPS can ship all that and more.

UPS’s earnings benefited from the e-commerce spike. But UPS expects the trend to last for years to come. In fact, it made long-term investments into e-commerce in 2019 by expanding its fleet and shipping offerings and partnering with online platforms and payment providers. It also has a lot more going for it than just e-commerce, like its growing healthcare business, international segment, and rising revenue from small and medium-sized businesses. In sum, UPS is in its best position ever. The stock also sports a 2.6% dividend yield and consistent dividend growth.

Law enforcement officials in York County are urging people to closely track purchases they expect for home delivery during COVID. A worker at a shipping warehouse near Rock Hill has been charged with stealing 33 packages that hadn’t been delivered.

The items ranged from toothbrushes to an auger for ice fishing to women’s deodorant to a Mickey Mouse cake topper. The packages also contained items such as a camouflage blanket, an iPad cover, charging cords, bandages, even cosmetics, according to deputies. The items were found Thursday in the vehicle of a contract worker at the UPS warehouse on Mount Gallant Road, according to York County Sheriff’s Office deputies.

The packages were found in the suspect’s vehicle in bags under a blanket. A UPS supervisor had called the police about thefts from the business, according to deputies and a sheriff’s office incident report.

Amid the sea of celebrities who participated in President Joe Biden’s inauguration, a Richmond-area man stood tall.

Anthony Gaskin made international headlines in late 2020 after a CBS 6 Facebook post about him went viral, seen by more than 40,000,000 people.

Gaskin is a UPS driver who made such a positive impact in his community, neighbors in Midlothian lined the streets in a show of appreciation for his good work.

During Wednesday night’s “Celebrating America” special, Gaskin was chosen to represent all the frontlne workers working through the pandemic.

UPS and Norfolk Southern said they are looking into whether employee health data was compromised after hackers posted medical records of truck drivers and rail workers to a leak site following an apparent ransomware attack and data breach at a Virginia-based occupational health-care provider.

It was not immediately clear how many UPS and Norfolk Southern personnel were affected by the leak of over 3,000 files from occupational health provider Taylor Made Diagnostics on Jan. 8. But FreightWaves found multiple health records for employees from both firms, in addition to multiple smaller trucking companies, U.S. government agencies and defense contractors from as recently as December 2020.

UPS also told FreightWaves it was looking into the breach, but would not discuss how many of its drivers may have been affected.