In the modern global supply chain era, shipping and courier services are one of the fundamental building blocks. They support all ventures from giant corporations to small mom-and-pop businesses, and even just the average person trying to send packages out to loved ones for the holiday.
FedEx and UPS are two of the biggest names in the industry, each offering unique benefits that could serve your needs. Whether your focus is international shipping, saving on shipping costs, rigorous tracking, or more, read on to find what sets these two giants apart.
For a deeper comparison between major carriers, explore our detailed analyses: DHL vs UPS and UPS vs USPS.
An Introduction to FedEx and UPS
FedEx and UPS both started in the United States and continue to serve as huge forces in the domestic shipping market to this day.
FedEx
FedEx was formed in the 1970s, making it one of the newer contenders to the shipping game. It has gone through a number of facelifts and name changes over the years, hitting numerous milestones throughout that time. For example, in 1995, it made waves as the first U.S.-based carrier to hold the rights to serve China.
UPS
This is one of the longest-standing shipping and delivery companies in the country, with its inception dating over one hundred years ago. It’s currently a huge player on both the domestic and international scene, serving over 220 countries and territories including locations in the Pacific Rim and the Middle East.
Both services have strong legacies to uphold, though UPS has a much longer history and has undergone more successful changes in the business world accordingly.
UPS vs FedEx: Service Varieties
When it comes to services, FedEx vs UPS are evenly matched. Both offer:
- Ground service
- Economy service
- Small and heavy package options
- Overnight express delivery
- Two- and three-day service
- International service
FedEx has a larger fleet of air carriers, so they tend to get to international destinations at a faster speed. However, UPS offers additional services like supply chain management, which gives it more versatility for customers with equally versatile needs.
UPS vs FedEx: Pricing Comparisons and Cost Factors
As always, when looking at the potential cost of sending a package, it’s important to understand that a number of factors influence the final price tag.
Before you ship something, consider:
- The size of your parcel – The larger it is or the more abnormal its shape, the more it will cost to send it.
- The weight of your parcel – Unfortunately, even if it’s small in dimension, a heavy package will still cost more than a light one. This is one of the biggest factors in determining price, even more so than size.
- The parcel destination location – All shipping services charge for delivery based on zones, with every location in a country and across the globe falling into a different zone category. The further the zone you’re shipping to is from your zone of residence, the more expensive the shipping will be.
- The speed that you want the parcel to arrive – The faster the package gets to its destination, the more you’ll have to pay.
UPS vs FedEx: Delivery Speed and On-time Performance
Both FedEx and UPS have reliable delivery speeds and on-time delivery rates. However, UPS does have a slight edge.
UPS has a delivery time averaging at 1-5 days. During peak holiday season in 2022, UPS had an on-time delivery rate of 97.5 percent. Over the years, it has maintained this edge over competition.
FedEx’s average delivery time is 1-7 days. In 2022’s peak holiday season, FedEx had an on-time delivery rate of 95.2 percent, which is significantly improved from the 2021 rate of 88.2 percent.
If you want maximum speed for your delivery, UPS is historically the way to go—but FedEx isn’t far behind.
UPS vs FedEx: Customer Service and User Experience
As big corporations with large domestic and international networks, both FedEx and UPS boast competent customer service teams aiming to make sure you have the best possible experience when shipping with them.
FedEx and UPS both offer solutions for dealing with lost or damaged packages, broken tracking, unique shipping requests, and more. However, UPS has a slight edge when it comes to retaining customers. It’s speculated that this is for a number of reasons, including a robust infrastructure with 64 years of experience over FedEx.
Both companies have a strong track record with handling customer communication and issues. If you run into problems with either, you’ll likely be able to get matters sorted with a fair amount of ease.
UPS vs FedEx: Technology Integration and Package Tracking
Both FedEx and UPS have similar offers in order to stay in competition with each other. This includes industry standard services like tracking and shipping label printing.
FedEx is considered one of the most tech-savvy of the courier companies, leading the way in terms of utilizing and implementing new tech. Some of its stand-out services, changes, and achievements include:
- SenseAware technology, which lets users track things like package temperature, light exposure, and other factors, making it great for highly sensitive shipments
- Investment in automation and robotics to make sorting easier and more efficient
- Use of technology like electric carts to make delivery easier on workers
UPS naturally has the ability to keep up with the times considering it has retained relevancy for over 100 years. Its technology innovations are customer-facing, making the job of shipping that much easier for a customer.
Its primary unique offer is Flex® Global View, a tech tool that lets a person view the supply chain with ease so businesses can meet customer expectations when sending out their products.
UPS vs FedEx: Environmental Commitments and Green Initiatives
As the world creeps closer to a bigger global effort at conserving the planet, many eyes have turned to the powerhouses keeping the global supply chain going. Needless to say, fleets of trucks, aircrafts, and ocean-going vessels have a hefty carbon footprint—and that’s not even getting into the factory emissions.
Both FedEx and UPS have come out with sustainability initiatives in recent years, promising to make changes that will help reduce their overall carbon footprint and other negative impacts on the environment.
FedEx
As with many other carriers, FedEx laid out a long-term plan focused on reducing emissions. It includes:
- Having carbon-neutral operations globally by 2040
- Investing $2 billion USD in sustainable energy and switching to electric vehicles
- Aiming for a zero-emission fleet with a 100 percent electric delivery system by 2030
- Using an automated delivery vehicle in China, which uses 25 percent less energy
- Use of 100 percent recycled cardboard for packaging
- Sending out 70 percent of all solid waste to recycling plants
- Use of solar energy in facilities
- Investing in carbon capture
UPS
A few crucial components of the UPS sustainability pledge include:
- Reaching carbon neutrality across all operations by 2050
- A 50 percent cut in package-related emissions by 2035
- The goal of powering 40 percent of ground vehicle with alternative fuels by 2025
- Designating 30 percent of all aircraft as SAF-powered by 2035
- The addition of electric aircrafts and charging stations
Though many have acknowledged the importance of major companies supporting dialogue about the importance of conservation, both companies have received some criticism for lacking transparency when it comes to tracking the progress of their sustainability efforts.
Weighing Your Shipping Options: Fedex vs UPS
Whether you’re shipping something big or small, sending parcels off to far-away destinations or somewhere right up the road, you have plenty of delivery options available.
FedEx shines when it comes to tracking technology and international mail deliveries. Deliveries typically go out between 9:00 am and 8:00 pm, with FedEx being one of the only companies to actively deliver seven days a week. They offer ground shipping, express delivery, freight transport, and international shipping, all with reliable customer service.
UPS has the domestic market on lock, providing fast and cost-efficient delivery to every corner of the nation. Not only do they provide excellent, speedy delivery, but they also have many specialized services like supply chain management which benefit countless users.
The service that suits you best will differ depending on what you want to send, where you want to send it, and how fast you want it to get there. Fortunately, both FedEx and UPS provide reliable, quick service that will make sure all of your parcels get where they need to go.
If your business is looking for additional support on consistent, reliable, and cost-friendly shipping, then turn to Lojistic. We’ll keep all your shipment data in one place, so you can leverage that data for automatic cost-savings. Learn more with our demo today.
At Lojistic, we specialize in providing a comprehensive suite of tailored services designed to enhance and streamline your shipping processes. Our offerings include meticulous parcel audits, efficient parcel payment systems, and proactive parcel refund management. Each solution is carefully crafted to assist you in effectively overseeing and reducing your shipping costs, thereby offering substantial benefits to your business operations.
Sources:
FedEx. Our History. https://www.fedex.com/en-us/about/history.html#1981-2000
UPS. Our History. https://about.ups.com/us/en/our-company/our-history.html
Supply Chain Dive. UPS leads peak season on-time rate again in 2022: ShipMatrix https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/ups-leads-peak-season-on-time-delivery-rate-fedex-shipmatrix/639852/
The Motley Fool. UPS or FedEx: Which Company Is Best at Keeping Its Customers Loyal?
FedEx. Part of a long history of FedEx innovations. https://www.fedex.com/en-us/senseaware/innovation.html
UPS. UPS Technology & Innovation. https://www.ups.com/us/en/supplychain/tools/innovation-technology.page
Earth. Sustainable Shipping Companies: Are the World’s Top Brands Keeping their Green Promises?
https://earth.org/sustainable-shipping-companies/
Author
Matt Bohn
Matt Bohn
Director of Parcel Rate Services
Prior to his role at Lojistic, Matt held significant positions in the industry, including his tenure as Senior Pricing Advisor at FedEx. Matt analyzed pricing programs and wrote pricing contracts for some of FedEx’s largest e-commerce and retail shippers. He also managed projects for the FedEx Global Pricing Approval Systems and Strategic Account Executive Inputs.
Matt earned a BS in Computer Engineering and an MBA in Finance from the Joseph M. Katz School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh.