UPS to Offer Pickup of Letters, Documents
United Parcel Service will pick up letters and documents, sort them and leave
them at postal outlets that are near their ultimate destinations
From ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION (GA), April 27th, 2001
ORIGINAL TITLE: UPS to Offer Pickup of Letters, Documents. FULLTEXT: By Dave Hirschman The same United Parcel Service couriers who deliver small packages will soon
be picking up mail, too. Brown-uniformed UPS drivers won’t deliver the mail — only the U.S. Postal
Service is allowed to do that. But the world’s largest delivery firm will pick
up letters and documents, sort them, and drop them off at postal facilities
near their final destinations. The Sandy Springs-based giant says it can speed deliveries, cut costs and gain
an even bigger share of the transportation market. “While electronic forms of communication continue to grow, we recognize that
mail — physical mail — remains a basic component of business and will for
some time to come,” said Joe Pyne, UPS senior vice president for corporate
development. “This is a logical extension of our core capabilities.” New UPS products will include “hybrid mail,” which allows e-mail messages to
be printed at regional UPS facilities and delivered via regular mail; “flats,”
or large documents such as annual reports that are sent in bulk and don’t fit
in standard first-class envelopes; and “presort,” which allows small and
medium-sized UPS customers to get discounts normally reserved for large-volume
accounts. UPS is offering the new products through Mail2000 and RMX, two firms UPS
bought and operates as subsidiaries. UPS would not say how much it paid for the companies, how much it will spend
to launch the new programs or how much profit it expects to make. In a
conference call with reporters Thursday, Pyne described the company’s
financial opportunities as “significant.” U.S. firms currently spend $15 billion annually on such mailings, and UPS
already has the transportation and information technology in place to compete
in that market. The U.S. Postal Service has long encouraged private shipping
companies to sort and transport mail so that its mail carriers deliver the
“last mile.” “UPS is using its existing infrastructure to provide more and more services
for its customers,” said Jeff Medford, transportation analyst at William Blair
& Co. in Chicago. “One UPS driver can pick up all a company’s air, ground and
(truck) shipments. Its competitors are more decentralized.” Jim Martell, chief executive at SmartMail, a 450-employee Atlanta firm that
offers similar services for large shippers, said UPS will help a rapidly
growing market expand even faster. “UPS is validating our market place and bringing lots of new awareness to what
we do,” Martell said. “My investors are thrilled; my sales people are
thrilled. UPS is going to add pricing stability to the market. I can’t see a
downside to it.” On the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, UPS shares closed at $56.60, down 32
cents. ISSN 0093-1179; Page N/A Copyright 2001 Atlanta Journal & Constitution; provided by
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (c) 2001 Resp. DB Svcs. All rts. reserv.
$$ATLANTA JOURNAL & CONSTITUTION (GA), 27th April 2001