What is United Parcel Service's sustainable competitive advantage?

Answer 1

UPS offers the most comprehensive carbon neutral shipping options of any major transportation company.

Also:

Facts You May Not Know About UPS and the EnvironmentAbstract:

Beyond alternative fuel vehicles, UPS has a history of helping improve the environment as well as its bottom line.

Ground Vehicle Fleet

The UPS ground fleet meets the highest U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay Rating, given to the cleanest and most fuel efficient commercial trucks on the road today.

UPS uses more than 6 different package car designs and currently six different fuel technologies to provide the right vehicle for different routes.

UPS has the one of the largest alternative fuel vehicle fleets in the industry - more than 1,900 vehicles.

UPS Airlines

UPS Surface Management System (SMS) monitors ground movement of aircraft at UPS WorldportSM, saving taxiing fuel by 400,000 gallons of per year.

UPS's flight planning system minimizes fuel burn by calculating the most efficient route between two points, factoring weather, winds, terrain and other elements.

Information Services

UPS optimized air flow on the raised floors at its Windward Facility and shut down 14 Computer Room Air Handlers, saving more than 850,000 kilowatt hours each year.

The DIAD is used in 49 countries and eliminates more than 89 million sheets of paper annually.

Since 2000, UPS has sold or recycled 24.5 million pounds of e-waste in the United States alone. Virtually no material goes to waste.

Facilities

UPS funded lighting upgrades in 116 sites during 2008 to save 25,707 megawatt hours of electricity annually, equaling 15,887 metric tonnes of CO2, the equivalent of removing 858 UPS package cars from the road.

LED lighting is being tested to reduce energy consumption. Specific areas considered for the use of LEDs include loading and unloading areas and yard lighting.

Customer Solutions

UPS's Packaging Design and Test Lab works with customers to identify optimal size, configuration, strength, and environmental characteristics of packages.

UPS has achieved a paperless environment where all International Shipping documents have been eliminated off packages, reducing paper use by 1,300 tons each day.