UPS launches UPS Economy

UPS is to launch UPS Economy – an international shipping service for small and medium-sized retailers in the UK, Canada, China, Hong Kong and the US.

UPS Economy will allow customers to choose between shipping with delivery duties paid or unpaid and provide visibility and tracking of delivery milestones via UPS.com. This provides customers with more flexibility, convenience and reliability of access to UPS’s global logistics network.

The service will expand to other key global markets in the near future.

“Our customers are seeking growth opportunities by doing what UPS did decades ago – they’re going global,” said UPS International president Nando Cesarone. “The opportunities are even greater in today’s dynamic international trade environment with cross-border e-commerce set to grow two times faster than domestic e-commerce. Global cross-border online sales are projected to make up 20 per cent of e-commerce in 2022.”

“This new service gives our customers options to seize international growth opportunities,” Cesarone continued. “And while the ‘last mile’ gets a lot of attention in our industry, we know small businesses look carefully at the first mile. With the same driver, same pick-up service and competitive rates, we’re making that first mile easier and more economical for even the smallest of our customers. This service enables small businesses to compete like micro-multinationals.”

*UPS has applied to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration for Part 135 certification to operate commercial drone flights in the UPS network under a subsidiary business called UPS Flight Forward Inc.

The certification lays the foundation for drone flights beyond an operator’s visual line of sight and for flights occurring day or night. Such flights are highly restricted in the United States and approved only by exception.

If UPS receives Part 135 certification as early as this year it would place it on track to have one of the first fully certified revenue-generating drone operations in the United States.

“UPS is committed to using technology to transform the way we do business,” said UPS chief transformation and strategy officer Scott Price. “UPS’s formation of a drone delivery company and application to begin regular operations under this level of certification is historic for UPS and for the drone and logistics industries, overall.”