MaxDividends Business Overview: Big Brown
Undervalued High Yield Dividend Stocks. Today: Deep dive into the undisputed heavyweight champ in the package delivery world 🚚
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Intro
How It All Started: “We Borrowed $100 and a Bike”
Back in 1907, two young hustlers, 18-year-old Claude Ryan and 19-year-old Jim Casey, decided to shake things up and start their own courier gig. All they had was a bike, $100 borrowed from a friend, and a vision for what would become a global delivery empire.
“Even though we started in a half-basement and basically ran our business from the street, we knew we didn’t want to be seen as some ‘street operation.’ From day one, we made sure our vehicles looked sharp. We wanted to impress anyone who came across our service.”
📊 Deep Dive into United Parcel Service's business
Key Dates
1907: Jim Casey kicks off a six-bicycle messenger service, naming it the American Messenger Company in Seattle, Washington.
1915: The company starts painting its delivery vehicles brown.
1919: After snapping up a delivery firm in Oakland, California, they rebrand as United Parcel Service (UPS).
1953: UPS begins expanding its common-carrier parcel service, offering to pick up and deliver parcels for anyone, anywhere. This year also marks the launch of UPS Air, a two-day air express service connecting major cities on both coasts.
1975: UPS becomes the first package delivery firm to hit every address in the continental U.S.; they also make their first international move by launching in Ontario, Canada, and move their HQ to Connecticut.
1976: UPS breaks into Europe with a delivery service in West Germany.
1999: UPS goes public, raising a whopping $5.47 billion through its IPO; the official name changes from United Parcel Service of America Inc. to United Parcel Service, Inc.
Company History
Known in the biz as "Big Brown," United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is the undisputed heavyweight champ in the package delivery world. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS delivers roughly 3.4 billion packages across more than 200 countries and territories. With a fleet boasting over 100,000 vehicles and nearly 600 aircraft, UPS operates the ninth largest airline in North America.
While UPS has been expanding its global footprint, it’s the U.S. operations that really flex its muscles. The company’s door-to-door delivery system covers every residential and business address in the country, and UPS estimates that it handles goods worth more than 6% of the U.S. GDP. A whopping 83% of UPS’s revenue comes from the U.S., where it holds about 60% of the ground shipping market and around 35% of the air shipping market.