UPS has announced that it is working on a deal with DHL's Express Unit to provide air freight transport for some of DHL's United States units. When all is said and done, United Parcel Service (UPS, Fortune 500) expects the agreement to add up to $1 billion in annual revenue. It will affect express, deferred, and international packages and should last a decade.
That's right - 10 years of seeing the brown shorts delivering the packages normally delivered by....wait, does anyone even notice what color the DHL folk wear? Or what color their trucks are?
Big Brown sure takes the cake where I'm from, and I'm not surprised to see them doing this deal either. So the question is: what's next for DHL? Will they be a UPS subsidiary? Will they melt away like the Wicked Witch of the West?
Should FedEx be worried? I sure would be. Everywhere I've lived and every company I've worked for has depended primarily on UPS services. FedEx has always been treated rather like the ugly step-sister by the retailers I've worked for. Only my bank has relied on FedEx - and I have to admit, at times I feel bad for them. As for DHL and the other shipping companies (wait, are there any?) - not even an afterthought most days.
I think it's the shorts, frankly. Maybe FedEx needs a calendar. I'll never forget our UPS guy bringing those around in my early 20's. The girls in the store were all a ga-ga. *chuckle* And the trucks. The FedEx folks can sneak up on you in a mini van. DHL drives a plain ol' delivery truck. But the UPS truck; well now, dogs the world over recognize that sound coming from blocks away!
Seriously though - what do you think? Is this a last ditch effort by DHL to save themselves from getting squished by the house that is UPS? Should FedEx folks be watching for pink slips taped to their overnight packages? Or is this just a good example of cutting gas and transportation costs on DHL's part - by paying a contracted rate to UPS to do the gas-guzzling travel, will they actually make more money as gas prices rise even further?
Speaking of which: we watched gas prices go up $0.14 in one day here. Yes, envision me having a heart attack on that one. How are prices in your neck of the woods, Workerettes?
If DHL is trying to lock in their rates, they are smart cookies. Somebody schedule them for a calendar....
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