


The differences highlighted are important but ultimately simplistic the truth is far more complex. FedEx and UPS Differences Difficult to Navigate Those detailed specifics can be calculated elsewhere. While they dorepresent good estimates of transit times by county, they do not show the precise estimates for your specific parcels. One note of caution with these tools, however. Conversely, for a parcel to Pittsburgh, we might choose FedEx because it should get there a fullday fasterthan with UPS.The differences are subtle but may affect your specific deliveries and might even be enough to convince you to choose one carrier over the other. Look closely and you’ll notice that UPS is the faster option for shipping a package from Lehi, Utah to Hawaii, promising to get it there in 3 days while FedEx may take up to 5. For example, here is a comparison of transit times for a package leaving our office headquarters in Lehi, UT, just outside of Salt Lake City:
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Select either “outbound” or “inbound,” enter the zip code, and submit to generate a color-coded map with your guaranteed delivery deadlines. One of the simplest ways to find out is by checking time-in-transit/ground maps, easily generated at UPS.com and. Which carrier will be faster for your next delivery? The network differences result in different guarantees for delivery times, largely depending your origin and destination zip codes.

Federal Express, on the other hand, took off in 1973 as a fourteen-plane air transportation service which later acquired FedEx Ground services.In spite of historic reputations, by 2017 both carriers are rounded out to the point where-in general-current air and ground on-time delivery percentages are similar.But when it comes to your specific delivery needs, there may be a few differences between the two shipping giants. In fact, their first deliveries were from a Model T shortly after the Wright Brothers’ first flight. United Parcel Service (UPS) began ground transportation services long before air transportation was available. “FedEx is better for air shipments, but UPS is better for ground.” Have you ever heard that advice? As it turns out, it’s not true-at least not anymore. Network Differences Impact Time-in-Transit Now, using these graphics, think about how a package might move from Utah to Hawaii-how many hubs, planes, trucks, or other facilities will it pass through? The differences between FedEx and UPS networks can lead to surprising differences in time-in-transit from one carrier to the other. Behold this handy graphic to see the network: Service levels share resources and it doesn’t matter whether a small parcel shipment is air or ground, each package follows a similar flow from origin to destination. The model for UPS is hub-and-spoke, where everything is interconnected. The network difference is the biggest difference between FedEx and UPS.

This difference also explains why FedEx doesn’t quote a specific number of vehicles in their ground fleet while UPS does-many of FedEx’s fleet are private vehicles! FedEx often uses independent contractors, while UPS uses employees for all services.However, in over 100 years of service, UPS workers have only gone on strike once. Some claim this affects the reliability of each service because union workers could go on strike. UPS employees are unionized, while most FedEx employees are non-union.That’s why FedEx Ground has a different colored logo than FedEx Express! Meanwhile, UPS is all one network, so there is no division in logos or services. As FedEx has grown and acquired new services, each new division remains a separate and distinct shipping network. FedEx uses multiple networks, while UPS utilizes just one.
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Until 2017, both major carriers even had the same ground rates! The list of similarities goes on ( click for a full fact sheet) but there are some major differences that may impact your shipping. FedEx and UPS have much in common: They offer comparable air and ground services, similar expedited options, and services for everything from low-weight economy to freight shipping.
