UPS vs. FedEx: Settling the Debate Once & For All – Which Is Better?

Introducing the Challengers UPS VS. FedEx

The two main parcel delivery services we are looking at are FedEx and UPS. Head to head, here is how they measure up.

Origins

FedEx was established in 1971 as an American global enterprise. The company’s services include both domestic and international parcel delivery that doesn’t include freight. However, UPS, one of the market’s oldest carriers, having been established in 1907, also provides services for local and international shipments that do not include the transport of freight.

Revenue

The two rival carriers have very similar revenue. In 2021, FedEx’s revenue was over $84 billion. In addition to its presence in over 220 countries and territories, the company employs over 850,000 people worldwide. However, UPS’s revenue was $97.2 billion, an increase of 14.96 percent from 2020. UPS can deliver packages to more than 220 nations and territories across the world. In addition, they employ a big workforce.

Fleet size

UPS has a larger fleet of ground vehicles and is the industry leader when it comes to domestic ground package delivery. FedEx is the industry leader in international air express shipping and has twice as many planes as UPS. This means that FedEx should provide more affordable international shipping rates than UPS does, and vice versa.

Services

There is a wide range of shipping options available from both businesses, from Ground to Overnight to Flat Rate. Both firms, though FedEx more so, maintain a network of retail outlets throughout the United States.

UPS also offers supply chain management, customs brokerage, and freight distribution through its Supply Chain and Freight division. That’s great news since it implies UPS can help you as you expand into international online sales.

FedEx and the USPS work together on many eCommerce shipments. FedEx flies most packages across the country, while USPS takes care of the final mile. FedEx is able to cut costs and shorten domestic shipment times as a result of this.

Stores

On presentation, too, they are a little different. Each company’s package delivery and express services attract customers to their own retail facilities, known as The UPS Store and FedEx Office, respectively. UPS and FedEx take distinct customer service techniques, and their respective storefronts and offices reflect that.

FedEx Offices are typically located in huge, corporate-owned buildings that look and feel like conventional offices. Digital picture kiosks, laser printers, and desktops with image scanners and Adobe design tools are just some of the high-tech options available through FedEx Office. FedEx’s target market consists largely of consumers and businesses who need and can afford the company’s premium express services.

Different types of clients frequent the two businesses even though they both offer similar services (shipping, packaging, and some office supply services like duplicating and printing). The UPS Store is a franchise that often operates out of smaller, locally owned retail locations. Its primary customers are consumers and small enterprises, and it primarily provides small item delivery as well as some postal and shipping-related services for them.

UPS VS. FedEx: Different Ways of Getting an Edge

Nobody can have a clear-cut way to victory by doing similar things. Both UPS and FedEx have employed different strategies for their businesses that help them out long term. Let us look at their unique strengths one by one.

UPS

UPS’s strength lies in the delivery of smaller packages, which has benefited greatly from the expansion of the e-commerce market. Internet retailers are under increasing pressure to meet customers’ expectations for timely offline delivery of purchased products as the number of frequent online shoppers grows.

Online retailers rely on package delivery services like UPS to make the last connections to their customers because they regard logistics as playing a far bigger part in retail success. As a result, UPS has seen a rise in demand for its services and has occasionally failed to meet demand during peak shipping seasons.

All of UPS’s operations, including air, ground, domestic, international, commercial, and residential, are coordinated through a centralized pickup and delivery system. UPS’s single-network architecture has improved the company’s competitive standing by increasing the effectiveness of the company’s networks and the usage of its resources.

FedEx

When it comes to shipping, FedEx excels at long-distance quick delivery, but regular local and regional deliveries are what online shoppers need most. For the sake of saving money, many online shops choose to have local deliveries made by local chain stores or through their regional fulfillment centers. Therefore, FedEx’s power does not contribute to the growth of the online shopping industry. FedEx may have to shift its business strategy toward FedEx Ground while maintaining its express advantage in order to stay up with the growing demand for local delivery driven by online retailers.

Express, Ground, Freight, and Services are all considered separate businesses within FedEx’s overall strategy. According to FedEx’s investor relations page, the company enjoys a unique competitive advantage in that 97.1% of its customers use services from two or more of its business segments.

Since FedEx’s express, ground, and freight services are so different from one another, a uniform network strategy would be ineffective. However, UPS’s several operations revolve around the delivery of tiny packages, therefore the company finds it most efficient to use the same network for all of them. It may come as a surprise to learn how drastically different two delivery services can be. To the untrained eye, they could as well be the same thing.

UPS VS. FedEx: How Can You Judge Between Them?

Both companies may transport packages by ground or air inside the United States and to other countries.

UPS, as we have learned before, has a larger fleet of ground vehicles and focuses on the domestic ground delivery of packages. FedEx, on the other hand, is an industry leader in international air express freight and operates twice as many planes as UPS.

Countries that have access to FedEx’s International Ground service have it easy because this allows for shipments weighing up to 150 pounds to be sent.

UPS Standard is a low-cost ground delivery option, although it is not available in Hawaii or Alaska and only ships inside the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Both carriers provide a wide range of customization choices and a solid set of standard features, so it’s time to compare and contrast them.

Is UPS or FedEx Cheaper?

Shipping costs are calculated by UPS and FedEx and are unique for each package based on its size, weight, distance, and projected arrival date. UPS’s domestic services are less expensive than FedEx’s. For domestic shipments, UPS is the preferred alternative because of its low delivery costs, while FedEx is the priciest option.

UPS’s international shipping rates are lower than those of its competitors, making it the more cost-effective choice. For both foreign and domestic shipments, then, UPS is the more cost-effective option.

The table with the rates for a 3 lb. package (13″ x 12″ x 2″) from San Francisco (SF) to New York (NY):

Which service is faster?

Both FedEx and the US Postal Service promise that your shipment will arrive on the day you specify, but only FedEx provides an exact delivery window for all of its services. Therefore, FedEx is the ideal choice for urgent or time-sensitive deliveries.

UPS’s ground shipping services are the only ones in which they can compete with FedEx’s speed. Because UPS Ground has a sizable fleet of vehicles across the United States, packages typically arrive at their destinations more quickly.

Compared to FedEx’s fleet of 87,300 vehicles, UPS’s fleet of over 100,000 delivery trucks allows for quicker ground delivery times. Comparatively, UPS operates a smaller fleet of 290 aircraft compared to FedEx’s 684 aircraft dedicated to cargo transport.

You can expect your item to arrive on time and in pristine condition if you choose FedEx instead of UPS because of their famed overnight delivery services.