In 1953, UPS began common carrier operations, serving commercial and residential shippers in some cities including Chicago - the first city outside of California in which UPS offered this. In 1980, the US had 18,000 trucking companies, of which only a handful had national operating rights. Robert Michael "Rob" Schneider (born October 31, 1963) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and director. In the beginning, the company primarily delivered these telegrams, but eventually expanded into transporting pretty much anything that could be transported on a bicycle or on foot. Claude Ryan - Wikipedia Over 60 percent of UPSs revenue is spent on employee compensation and benefits. Casey had been in the workforce since age 11. Thus the name United Parcel Service was born (years later shortened to just UPS). UPS is unique in that it is a direct descendant of the policies, values, and business of Jim Casey and his friends. He and his partner, the glad-handing B. Franklin Mahoney, had launched the nation's first year-round regularly scheduled daily airline passenger service two years earlier on March 1. Practically speaking, many startups burn through hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars and still fail. T. Claude Ryan - Wikipedia Tubal Claude Ryan (January 3, 1898 - September 11, 1982) was an American aviator born in Parsons, Kansas. This year also saw the debut of UPS.com. World trade and ecommerce, including Amazon, would have been crippled without UPS. UPS operates about 118,000 vehicles. At first, The Bon kept its own fleet and used Merchants, but was soon satisfied with the new service and abandoned its own delivery fleet. The brown color UPS uses is named Pullman Brown. The company was understandably focused on safety (today UPS has less than one accident per million miles driven). Top United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) Shareholders - Investopedia Jim Casey was at the forefront in all of these battles. Within ten years of the Acts passage, America had 45,000 trucking companies, of which 20,000 had national rights. In 1916 Charles Soderstrom was hired, and it was his idea to paint the companys vehicles dark brown, a colour that tends to camouflage grime. In 2001, UPS entered the retail business acquiring Mail Boxes Etc., Inc., the world's largest franchisor of retail shipping, postal and business service centers. UPS focused intensely on efficiencythe best driving routes, not making left turns if one could avoid them, never backing up, holding the car keys in the right hand for quick starts, and timing and measuring every aspect of the enterprise. The Chicago and Louisville operations are only two of over 2,500 UPS facilities worldwide.