Business

UPS at its centennial anniversary
by Claudia Sonea

Some companies make history and UPS is one of them. A hundred years ago, in 1907 to be precise, it was called American Messenger Company and was opened with a $100 loan from a friend of Jim Casey who was only 19 years old at that time. Together with his 18-year-old friend, Claude Ryan, ran errands and carried notes on foot or on bicycle and used their basement in Seattle as headquarters for their employees- Casey's brother and a couple of other teenagers. Six years later renamed itself Merchants Parcel Delivery, acquired a Model T Ford as delivery car and switched from messages to packages. In 1919 they expanded beyond Seattle and renamed itself United Parcel Service. The brand of UPC was taken for years after it went public, in 2003. A long history for a company started with only 100 dollars and the irony is that it is now hundred years old. It's a $47 billion business with a fleet of trucks, an airline and operations in 200 countries. Their policy of adapting to customers demand and trends must be good in order to be the world's largest shipping carrier. Chief Executive Mike Eskew said that they have to transform the same time the world does it and that was one of the reasons in purchasing Mail Boxes Etc and change it into The UPS Store. However, they are facing now a huge problem with their employees union. Contract negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters union and the CEO says they have to put any raise in the context of its overall cost structure, this way making it harder to get to an agreement. Due to the fact that the company counts on its employees to work, they will come to a deal that will benefit both sides. The predictions for this company are very good. They invest a lot in technology to find the shortest routes for its trucks and to save on fuel. The goal is to keep costs down and the customers happy. For its centennial anniversary UPS has been holding events around the world. On 28th August the company celebrates 100 years and Eskew the 35th anniversary with the company. Cheers to you, UPS!

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070804/ap_on_bi_ge/ups100_years;_ylt=An4PYEBoEbbDGIsJREx9uH5u24cA

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

PocketNews is a new real-time news broadcaster delivering the latest and hottest news right to your pocket ! With global clients who want to be kept up to date, PocketNews is everyone's way of keeping in touch with the World.

posted by Blog TechSource @ 3:34 PM