History
100 years of Service
UPS began as a private messenger service in Seattle, Washington in 1907. Jim Casey was 19 years old when he borrowed $100.00 from a friend and started the American Messenger Company. Initially the company delivered for department stores, carried notes and messages, and carried trays of food from local restaurants to customers. Deliveries were made on foot or bicycle. For large department store purchases, a horse and wagon were used. Service was provided around the clock by Jim Casey, his brother George, and their partner Claude Ryan. A handful of other teenagers kept the business going, and their slogan was “best service at the lowest rates”.
For the first ten years the company focused on retail package delivery since the development of the telephone caused a decline in their messenger business. The company also used motorcycles for some deliveries. Their largest customer however was the United States Postal Service, for which they delivered all special delivery mail. In 1913 the company acquired its first car, a Model T Ford, and changed its name to Merchants Parcel Delivery. They also began using the color brown. By 1918, the company delivered for the three largest Seattle department stores and they expanded their company to Oakland California. With the move to Oakland the company changed its name once again, this time to the United Parcel Service. Another innovation was their development as a “common carrier “. This expanded the business to include automatic daily pickups, C.O.D’s, and the return of undeliverables. In 1924 UPS debuted the use of the conveyor belt system for handling packages. This system is still in use in every UPS facility today, and showed that UPS would be at the forefront of embracing new technology. ...