United Parcel Service

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

System design

UPS's Parcel Network is based on a hub and spoke model. UPS operates centers which feed parcels to hubs where parcels are sorted and forwarded to their destinations. Centers typically are the point of entry for parcels and send the parcels to one or more hubs. A hub is a location where many centers send packages to be sorted and sent back out to other centers or hubs. For example, a parcel being shipped from Wilmington, NC would be picked up by a driver and taken to the 23rd street center, where it would be loaded on a trailer that is sent to Raleigh, NC. At Raleigh, this package joins packages from all over the state, and is forwarded to the next point along its way — let's say Chicago. Once the package is in Chicago, it would be sorted and forwarded to the appropriate delivery center where it would be loaded onto a package car and delivered.

Related Topics:
Hub and spoke model - Wilmington, NC - Package car

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