Originally Posted by tnkrdrvr

We both deliver to both residential and business addresses. Business to business shipping tends to be more profitable due to the higher number of packages per stop. UPS package car drivers (all Teamsters) deliver both next day and ground packages. Routes vary wildly based on the needs of the local area, but most drivers do the same route for years. Hence the familiarity customers have with their driver. FedEx drivers (not unionized) work for either their ground or their Express divisions. This is why you can have two different drivers deliver to your house the same day. They were mostly contractors, but I believe they are being brought in house. FedEx has also discussed trying to merge their two delivery services to attain greater efficiencies. I don’t know if that’s happened yet.

Its important to remember that next day air at UPS was an add on service to a pre-existing international ground network to compete with FedEx’s invention of the overnight business. FedEx ground is FedEx’s successful attempt to muscle into the traditional parcel post business dominated by the USPS and UPS.