United Parcel Service

:This article is about the delivery service; for other uses, see UPS (disambiguation).

Brief history

• 1907 — American Messenger Company was founded by James E. Casey in Seattle, Washington. The company delivered messages and small packages in the Seattle area.
• 1913 — Merger with Evert McCabe, company renamed Merchant Parcel Delivery.
• 1919 — Renamed United Parcel Service and expands to Oakland, California
• 1961 — Familiar shield logo designed by Paul Rand introduced.
• 1975 — UPS completes expansion to all 48 contiguous states in the United States. UPS also begins International service to Canada.
• 1977 — After Congress deregulated air cargo industry in November, UPS started air delivery service.
• 1997 — On August 4, 1997, 185,000 Teamsters union UPS hourly employees walked off the job after contract negotiations stalled. UPS was effectively shut down for 16 days and lost a great deal of business to competitors. This was the first nationwide strike at UPS, although there had been numerous localized strikes in the past.
• 1999 — UPS changes from a private to publicly traded company. At the time, it was the largest Initial Public Offering in United States history.
• 2001 — UPS buys Mail Boxes Etc., a company primarily in the business of package shipping, receiving, and mailbox services.
• 2003 — On March 25, 2003, UPS unveiled a new worldwide branding program including a new logo, web site and the redesign of all 66,000 UPS vehicles. The slogan "Synchronizing the World of Commerce" is introduced. As part of the campaign UPS dropped the name "United Parcel Service" based on the premise that UPS does not just ship parcels (packages), but is focused on the entire supply chain.
• 2003 — In April 2003, Mail Boxes Etc., a UPS subsidiary, rebrands the MBE network to The UPS Store.
• 2004 — In December, the acquistion of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding is complete. Formerly owned by CNF Corporation, Menlo sold their Forwarding, Trade Services (customs brokers), and Technology groups).
• May 2005 — UPS agrees to buy Overnite Corporation, formerly owned by Union Pacific Railroad, for US$1.25 billion.

Chief executives

• 1907–1962 James E. Casey
• 1962–1972 George D. Smith
• 1972–1973 Paul Oberkotter
• 1973–1980 Harold Oberkotter
• 1980–1984 George Lamb
• 1984–1990 John W. Rogers
• 1990–1997 Kent C. "Oz" Nelson
• 1997–2001 James P. "Jim" Kelly
• 2002–Present Mike Eskew