the article talks about UPS as an old outdated and lagging behind its main competitor FedEx while in my experience as a regular shipper I have to say UPS is a lot more reliable with its delivery schedule and serving its shipper customers needs.
It also doesn’t mention that Fedex operates two companies ground and express. Most of the B2B stuff is via FedEx express.
IMO the actual information here is that UPS approached the market based on their long term plan and maximized utilization of their capital investments. Now they’re looking to invest in modernization. The question is, was it smarter to stay the course, learn from Fedex’s experience and lock into tech at a lower price, or should they have scrambled?
The downside of fedex's seperate companies is there is a lack of logistical coordination at the national level. I.e. If they have a ground 28' trailer full at a smaller location and a separate 28' LTL Freight trailer, they will send two drivers instead of 1 long haul driver with a doubles configuration.
[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20080206004244/http://www.fedexf...
[2] https://about.van.fedex.com/our-story/company-structure/cust...
The loss of efficiency was way less than they expected. They did have to spend weeks though fixing containers sent to the wrong location.