For all of us who deliver our merchandise using UPS, the words “In Transit” are common. Likewise, we know what this means if we have ever received a package delivered by UPS. “In transit” usually means that our package is coming. It means we should receive our shipments in a few days. UPS also lets you see where your package has been. But this is not enough to know what happens to your shipments when they go through the UPS process.
Here we show you how it works, and tell you what happens to your shipments when they are delivered by UPS.
How UPS Works
UPS is one of the magnates of shippings and definitely a world-wide favorite. According to How Stuff Works, UPS can deliver to 80 percent of the world in 48 hours. Only in 2005, UPS delivered 3.75 billion packages and letters. That is billions. That is an insane amount of packages that are being shipped out to the world every day. The way UPS manages to not lose most packages most of the time is through their constantly improving process.
Step One: Pick Up and Sorting
Packages are picked up from a home or any other location where users drop them off. Then, are taken to the many UPS stations. Here they get sorted with smart labels and organized automatically.
Step Two: Smart Labels Help Delivery
Under the loving care of the UPS stations, packages are set with a smart label. Both man and machine make use of a bar-code scanner to access info on the package. The scanner reads the label. This is how they also get real-time updates on their website.
Step Three: Land, Sea or Air?
With the classy smart label, the package must be sent to a local or a regional sorting facility. UPS has at their disposal different ways of transporting the cargo. It can be sent either by car, truck, plane, rail or ocean vessel. Trucks and planes are the more common. If it is going to be sent less than 200 miles away, then the packages will take a ride in the UPS Trucks. More than 200 miles and it will soar the skies.
Step Four: The Worldport
If the package took flight then it could end in one of their six airports. One of them being the UPS Global Operations Center: The Worldport. The first step has planes land here. Obviously. This allows the employees to unload the packages. This is one of the two times that human hands touch the cargo. Employees scan the labels and organize the packages. They will fall in one of three categories.
Step Five: The Conveyor Belts
If the package is small like a letter, it will go into its own tray on a conveyor belt for the Smalls. In the case of a 6 sided box, it goes with similar ones to be pushed around different belts. If the package is an odd one it will be sent along with what is called irregs. Irregs are held under elastic straps on flat cars. They carry them on the belt. Safely held down. At the end of the line, packages get sorted with those going to similar places. Packages are handled, for the last time, by people and loaded in containers. The containers then go on planes. The plane takes off. Obviously. After all this they go back to a regional sorting facility.
Step Six: Final Destination
Once back on land, the employees scan the labels in order to print a pre-load assist label (PAL). The PAL points employees to the correct conveyor belt. The PAL also lead to the correct package car. A driver then uses an advanced software to plan a gas saving route to the final destination. Once there the driver uses a handheld computer called DIAD. This is a delivery information acquisition device. The DIAD is used to access package info and to get signatures. With the signed DIAD, the package is now at the end of its journey.
After the long but fast journey, the cargo is now at home. Once home, this package finds that it is no longer “In Transit.”
Originally published at shweebo.com on February 9, 2016.
