US Postal Service (USPS) and UPS have announced a partnership designed to offer better service to customers, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and optimise operational efficiencies.
In a video address on YouTube, USPS postmaster general and CEO Patrick Donahoe and UPS chairman Scott Davis discuss the ideas behind the partnership.
“We’ve named our partnership ‘Blue and Brown Make Green,’” said Donahoe. “By working together, the Postal Service and UPS are able to reduce costs, serve our customers better and achieve sustainability goals, such as reducing our carbon footprints.”
“It certainly describes what the Postal Service and UPS have been working on together,” added Davis. “The world is changing dramatically as we become a more global economy. And it takes big ideas and bold moves to keep up. This collaboration to reduce the carbon footprint of our respective supply chains is the sustainability wave of the future.”
The USPS is the world’s largest mail service, delivering nearly 40% of the world’s mail to more than 151 million addresses in America. UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company, and is one of the leading global providers of specialised transportation and logistics services. In 2011, UPS delivered more than four billion packages and documents to more than 220 countries and territories.
In the USPS/UPS partnership video Donahoe and Davis discuss their efforts to improve service to their customers, reduce costs and improve the environment. While USPS and UPS are keen competitors, they also are each other’s customers.
USPS delivers many of UPS’s packages through its “last mile” network which is leveraged to provide services including Parcel Select* and Parcel Return, the latter being a convenient service for UPS customers to drop returnable merchandise at Post Offices for UPS retrieval and return to retailers. Last year, UPS carried millions of pounds of USPS letter and package mail across the country and around the world on its extensive air and ground transportation networks.
“Our working relationship with UPS supports the Postal Service’s goal to deliver mail at the lowest cost with minimal impact on the environment,” added Donahoe. “It’s a great template for how posts and private enterprises can work together to better serve customers, the planet and the bottom line. We hope our partnership can serve as a model for others to work together in new ways, whether they are competitors, collaborators, customers or all the above.”
Donahoe and Davis concurred on the video that by seeking opportunities to be cost effective and create a cleaner, more sustainable environment together, USPS and UPS can deliver a better and greener future for generations to come.