Service on the Ground

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Ground is the guts of UPS.

Back in 1907, when UPS first started as the American Messenger Company, all deliveries and errands were made on the ground. In fact, back in those early years, there weren’t even any trucks – service was carried out on foot, by bicycle, or on the streetcars.

In 1913, the American Messenger Company merged with a competing parcel delivery company and changed its name to Merchants Parcel Delivery. But something more significant than a name change came after that merger: several motorcycles, and one Model T Ford. And these forever changed the way UPS does business.

Today, in 2007, the playing field is a little bit larger. And UPS has a few more vehicles: over 91,000 of them. Not to mention operating the 8th largest airline in the world. But despite all this growth, ground is still the backbone of UPS, still the soul of the company.  

UPS’s centennial celebration is about service, and on the ground is where much of the service occurs – whether the package in hand is ground, air, or international. It’s because that last mile is always driven – those last few steps up to the customer’s door are always walked - on the ground. That’s where UPS drivers best serve their customers, by delivering lots of packages – more than 14 million of them, every day.

The statistical information included here was current at the time it was published in 2007. To see more recent statistics, visit our pressroom.

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