UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K
FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS
PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
(Mark One)
|
| |
x | ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018
or
|
| |
¨ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission file number 001-15451
____________________________________
United Parcel Service, Inc.
|
| | |
Delaware | | 58-2480149 |
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
55 Glenlake Parkway, N.E. Atlanta, Georgia | | 30328 |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) | | (Zip Code) |
(404) 828-6000
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
_______________________________
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
|
| | |
Title of Each Class | | Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered |
Class B common stock, par value $.01 per share | | New York Stock Exchange |
Floating-Rate Senior Notes due 2020 | | New York Stock Exchange |
1.625% Senior Notes due 2025 | | New York Stock Exchange |
1% Senior Notes due 2028 | | New York Stock Exchange |
0.375% Senior Notes due 2023 | | New York Stock Exchange |
1.500% Senior Notes due 2032 | | New York Stock Exchange |
_________________________________
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Class A common stock, par value $.01 per share
(Title of Class)
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ¨ No x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No ¨
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. x
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definition of “accelerated filer”, “large accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Check one:
|
| | | | | | | | |
Large accelerated filer x | | Accelerated filer ¨ | | Non-accelerated filer ¨ | | Smaller reporting company ¨ | | Emerging growth company ¨ |
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ¨ No x
The aggregate market value of the class B common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $73,643,493,685 as of June 30, 2018. The registrant’s class A common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange or traded in an organized over-the-counter market, but each share of the registrant’s class A common stock is convertible into one share of the registrant’s class B common stock.
As of February 6, 2019, there were 164,239,863 outstanding shares of class A common stock and 695,989,113 outstanding shares of class B common stock.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its annual meeting of shareowners scheduled for May 9, 2019 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC.
ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
TABLE OF CONTENTS
|
| | |
| PART I | |
Item 1. | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
Item 1A. | | |
Item 1B. | | |
Item 2. | | |
| | |
| | |
Item 3. | | |
Item 4. | | |
| PART II | |
Item 5. | | |
| | |
Item 6. | | |
Item 7. | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
Item 7A. | | |
Item 8. | | |
Item 9. | | |
Item 9A. | | |
Item 9B. | | |
| PART III | |
Item 10. | | |
Item 11. | | |
Item 12. | | |
Item 13. | | |
Item 14. | | |
| PART IV | |
Item 15. | | |
Item 16. | | |
PART I
Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements
This report, our Annual Report to Shareowners and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) contain certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in the future tense, and all statements accompanied by terms such as “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “estimate,” “assume,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “target,” “plan” and variations thereof and similar terms, are intended to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made subject to the safe harbor protections of the federal securities laws pursuant to Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
From time to time, we also include written or oral forward-looking statements in other publicly disclosed materials. Such statements relate to our intent, belief and current expectations about our strategic direction prospects and future results, and give our current expectations or forecasts of future events; they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made. However, caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements because such statements speak only as of the date when made.
Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or anticipated results. These risks and uncertainties are described in Part I, “Item 1A. Risk Factors” and may also be described from time to time in our future reports filed with the SEC. You should consider the limitations on, and risks associated with, forward-looking statements and not unduly rely on the accuracy of predictions contained in such forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, changes in expectations or the occurrence of unanticipated events after the date of those statements.
Overview
United Parcel Service, Inc. (“UPS”) was founded in 1907 as a private messenger and delivery service in Seattle, Washington. Today, we are the world’s largest package delivery company, a leader in the U.S. less-than-truckload industry and a premier provider of global supply chain management solutions. We operate one of the largest airlines in the world, as well as the world’s largest fleet of alternative-powered vehicles. We deliver packages each business day for 1.5 million shipping customers to 9.1 million receivers ("consignees") in over 220 countries and territories. In 2018, we delivered an average of 20.7 million pieces per day, or a total of 5.2 billion packages. Total revenue in 2018 was $71.861 billion.
We serve the global market for logistics services, which includes transportation, distribution, contract logistics, ground freight, ocean freight, air freight, customs brokerage, insurance and financing. We have three reporting segments: U.S. Domestic Package and International Package, which together we refer to as our global small package operations, and Supply Chain & Freight, all of which are described below.
Strategy
Our market strategy is to provide customers with advanced logistics solutions made possible by a broad portfolio of differentiated services and capabilities expertly assembled and integrated into our customers’ businesses. This approach, supported by our efficient and globally balanced multimodal network, enables us to deliver value to our customers and thereby build lasting partnerships with them.
Customers are able to leverage our broad portfolio of logistics capabilities comprised of: our balanced global presence in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America; reliability; and industry-leading technologies and solutions expertise for competitive advantage in markets where they choose to compete.
We continue to invest in the expansion of the UPS business to serve our existing and prospective customers with a full range of advanced logistics products, services and capabilities across an ever-increasing geographical and industry footprint. Achieving our objectives has required new methods and innovative approaches to logistics services, including the acquisition and creation of platform-based businesses, specialized healthcare services such as Marken’s clinical trial capabilities, a full range of brokerage and transportation insurance services, retail offerings such as UPS My Choice and more.
We have a long history of operating with joint venture and partnership arrangements to provide flexibility as we build scale. We often reevaluate these arrangements to ensure they are optimally designed for our future aspirations. For example, in 2018, we acquired full ownership of our express services unit in India, signaling a new era of opportunity and operational design in a high-growth international market. We closely monitor global trade and economic, geopolitical, regulatory and environmental factors, as well as other areas of risk and change to ensure we quickly adjust to a fast-moving world.
We aim to be a disciplined and focused business that purposefully reinvests capital to achieve both long-term strategic benefits and favorable returns. In September 2018, we communicated our commitment to continuous transformation to modernize our business and operations through state-of-the art technology. We see transformation as an ongoing commitment to enhance quality and efficiency as we deliver innovative capabilities and services. Our strategic investments are primarily focused in areas we believe will drive growth and lasting profit potential:
| |
• | Services and solutions for small and medium-sized businesses. |
| |
• | International growth markets. |
| |
• | Global Business to Consumer (“B2C”) and Business to Business (“B2B”) e-commerce. |
| |
• | Healthcare and life-sciences logistics. |
| |
• | Operational advancements and efficiencies through our technology-enabled network. |
In 2018, we added nearly 400,000 pieces per hour of automated sort capacity globally, along with numerous new technologies to help control the network and ensure resources are in the right place at the right time.
We have a long history of sound financial management, and our consolidated balance sheet showcases financial strength. Cash generation is a significant strength of UPS, giving us ample capacity to service our obligations and facilitate distributions to shareowners, reinvest in our business and pursue growth opportunities.
Reporting segments and products & services
Global Small Package
Our global small package operations provide time-definite delivery services for express letters, documents, small packages and palletized freight via air and ground services. We serve more than 220 countries and territories around the world along with domestic delivery service in more than 50 countries. We handle packages up to 108 inches in length that weigh up to 150 pounds and are up to 165 inches in combined length and girth, as well as palletized shipments weighing more than 150 pounds. All of our package services are supported by numerous shipping, visibility and billing technologies.
We handle all levels of service (air, ground, domestic, international, commercial and residential) through one global integrated pickup and delivery network. We combine all packages within our network, unless dictated by specific service commitments. This enables one UPS driver to pick up customers’ shipments for any of our services at the same scheduled time each day. Compared to companies with single service network designs, our integrated network uniquely provides operational and capital efficiencies while being more environmentally friendly.
We offer same-day pickup of air and ground packages upon request. Customers can schedule pickups up to six days a week, based on their specific needs. Additionally, our wholly-owned and partnered global network offers roughly 150,000 entry points where customers can tender a package to us at a location or time convenient to them. This combined network includes UPS drivers who can accept packages provided to them, UPS drop boxes, UPS Access Point locations, The UPS Store locations, authorized shipping outlets and commercial counters, alliance locations and customer centers attached to UPS facilities. Some of these locations offer a full array of services, including pickup, delivery and packing options, while others are drop-off locations only.
The continued growth of online and mobile shopping has increased our customers’ needs for efficient and reliable returns, resulting in our development of a robust selection of returns services that are available in more than 145 countries. The portfolio provides a range of cost-effective label options and a vast network of consumer drop points, as well as a selection of returns technologies that promote efficiency and a friction-free consumer experience. These options vary based on customer need and country and include solutions such as UPS Returns, as well as more-specialized services such as UPS Returns Exchange. Our technologies promote systems integration, client ease of use and visibility of inbound merchandise, which help reduce costs and improve efficiency of our merchants' reverse logistics processes. UPS Returns Manager is an excellent example of this value.
We operate one of the largest airlines in the world, with global operations centered at our Worldport hub in Louisville, Kentucky. Worldport sort capacity has expanded over the years due to volume growth and centralization efforts. Our European air hub is located in Cologne, Germany, and we maintain Asia Pacific air hubs in Shanghai, China; Shenzhen, China and Hong Kong. Our regional air hub in Canada is located in Hamilton, Ontario and our regional air hub for Latin America and the Caribbean is in Miami, Florida.
Our U.S. regional air hubs in Dallas, Texas; Ontario, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Rockford, Illinois support Worldport. This network design creates cost-effective package processing in our most technology-enabled facilities, which allows us to use fewer, larger and more fuel-efficient aircraft. Our U.S. ground fleet serves all business and residential zip codes in the contiguous U.S.
U.S. Domestic Package Reporting Segment
We are a leader in time-definite, money-back guaranteed, small package delivery services in the United States. We offer a full spectrum of U.S. domestic guaranteed ground and air package transportation services.
| |
• | Customers can select from same day, next day, two day and three day delivery alternatives. UPS’s Air portfolio offers options enabling customers to specify a time-of-day guarantee for their delivery (e.g., by 8:00 A.M., 10:30 A.M., noon, end of day, etc.). |
| |
• | Customers can also leverage our extensive ground network to ship using our day-definite guaranteed ground service that serves every U.S. business and residential address. We deliver more ground packages in the U.S. than any other carrier, with average daily package volume of 14.5 million, most within one to three business days. |
| |
• | We also offer UPS SurePost, an economy residential ground service for customers with non-urgent, lightweight residential shipments. UPS SurePost is a contractual residential ground service that combines the consistency and reliability of the UPS Ground network with final delivery often provided by the U.S. Postal Service. We utilize our operational technology to identify multiple package delivery opportunities and redirect UPS SurePost packages for final delivery, improving time in transit, customer service and operational efficiency. |
We continue to invest in our smart global logistics network. Within our facilities, we are expanding automated capacity, driving greater efficiencies and providing additional network flexibilities. We also continue to invest in our air network capacity through aircraft acquisitions. In 2018, we expanded Saturday operations and opened 22 new facilities, including regional facilities in the Atlanta, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Dallas areas.
International Package Reporting Segment
Our International Package reporting segment includes small package operations in Europe, Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America and the Indian sub-continent, Middle East and Africa ("ISMEA"). We offer a wide selection of guaranteed day- and time-definite international shipping services. We offer more guaranteed time-definite express options (Express Plus, Express and Express Saver) than any other carrier.
| |
• | In 2018, we continued expansion of our Express time-definite portfolios: |
| |
▪ | We expanded UPS WorldWide Express to 14 new countries around the globe. |
| |
▪ | UPS Express now reaches 137 countries with guaranteed mid-day delivery and 57 countries with guaranteed morning delivery with Express Plus. |
| |
▪ | Express Saver reaches 220 countries and territories with guaranteed end-of-day delivery. |
| |
▪ | We grew our Worldwide Express Freight Midday footprint by five times in 12 European countries by expanding this service to 39,000 new postal codes. |
| |
▪ | Worldwide Express Freight is available from 71 origin countries to 67 destination countries. |
| |
▪ | For international package shipments that do not require Express services, UPS Worldwide Expedited offers a reliable, deferred, guaranteed day-definite service option. The service is available from more than 80 origin countries to more than 220 countries and territories. |
| |
▪ | For cross-border ground package delivery, we offer UPS Standard delivery services within Europe, between the U.S. and Canada and between the U.S. and Mexico. |
Europe, our largest region outside of the U.S., accounts for approximately half of international revenue and is one of the primary drivers of our growth. To accommodate the strong potential for growth in small package exports, we made a series of enhancements to both our ground and air networks that help reduce transit time by one to two days and will result in improved exporting opportunities for customers in Europe.
We are constantly striving to provide our customers with better service. In 2018, we provided our customers with greater flexibility by offering later pick-up times in nearly 52,000 postal codes across Europe, creating production and fulfillment benefits. We continue to make major European infrastructure investments, including a $146 million facility in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, the opening of a $150 million hub in London and the construction of a $100 million hub in Paris. These investments are part of ongoing efforts allowing customers using UPS Standard to reach more than 80 percent of Europe’s population within two business days. These recent expansions and enhancements are part of our commitment to invest nearly $2 billion in our European infrastructure.
Asia Pacific remains a strategic market due to growth rates in intra-Asia trade and the expanding Chinese economy. To capitalize on these opportunities, we are bringing faster time-in-transit to customers focused on intra-Asia trade and reducing transit time from Asia to the U.S. and Europe. Through added flight frequencies, we provide our customers the ability to ship next day to more places in the U.S. and Europe - guaranteed - than any other express carrier. We serve more than 40 Asia Pacific countries and territories through more than two dozen alliances with local delivery companies that supplement company-owned operations. Our joint venture with SF Express combines SF’s extensive Chinese network with UPS’s delivery capabilities in the U.S. and Europe to increase our market presence and help provide Chinese enterprises with greater global access.
In 2018, we extended cut-off times by four hours for export shipment pickups, lengthening production windows. We upsized four daily flights to our Shenzhen Intra-Asia hub and Hong Kong to our new Boeing 747-8s for greater capacity to support customers with import needs through gateways in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
High-growth markets are also a strategic imperative for UPS. A new direct flight from the U.S. to Dubai improves time in transit to key destinations in the ISMEA region for shippers throughout the U.S., Canada and the Americas. Markets like India in the ISMEA region provide new opportunities for growth. In 2018, we made additional investments in India to acquire full ownership of our express services unit, previously a joint venture. This follows the construction of a new facility in Hyderabad and an integrated logistics facility in Ahmedabad. These enhancements allow customers in ISMEA to reach markets in the U.S. and Europe within a 48-hour delivery window. In addition to these upgrades, we added Saturday delivery to seven countries in the region. The additional operating day gives our customers greater flexibility with their operations and scheduling.
Supply Chain & Freight
Supply Chain & Freight consists of our forwarding, logistics, truckload brokerage, UPS Freight, UPS Capital and other businesses. Supply chain complexity creates demand for a global service offering that incorporates transportation, distribution and international trade and brokerage services, with complementary financial and information services. Outsourcing of non-core logistics activity is a strategy more companies are pursuing. With increased competition and growth opportunities in new markets, businesses require flexible and responsive supply chains to support their business strategies. We meet this demand by offering a broad array of supply chain services in more than 200 countries and territories.
Forwarding
We are one of the largest U.S. domestic air freight carriers and among the top international air freight forwarders globally. We offer a portfolio of guaranteed and non-guaranteed global air freight services. Additionally, as one of the world’s leading non-vessel operating common carriers, we provide ocean freight full-container load, less-than-container load and multimodal transportation services between most major ports around the world.
Truckload Brokerage
Coyote Logistics Midco, Inc. (“Coyote”), a U.S.-based third party logistics provider, was acquired in August 2015. We successfully integrated this large-scale truckload brokerage and transportation management services operation into our Supply Chain & Freight segment and have seen significant synergies in the areas of purchased transportation, backhaul utilization, technology systems and industry best practices. Coyote's access to our UPS fleet, combined with its broad carrier network, has created a customized capacity solution for all markets, customers and situations. Moreover, Coyote creates access to UPS services (such as air freight, customs brokerage and global freight forwarding) for its customer base.
Freightex, a U.K.- based freight brokerage firm, was acquired in January 2017. The acquisition of Freightex added a full-scale truckload brokerage and transportation management solution to UPS’s European portfolio, creating a single-source solution for shippers throughout Europe with freight ranging from parcel to full truckload. In 2018, Freightex was rebranded to Coyote Logistics to further leverage the centralized technology and business models with the market knowledge, talent and established customer and carrier bases already in Europe. The Coyote Logistics European division complements UPS’s North American truckload brokerage business, as many international shippers know and trust the Coyote truckload product.
Logistics
We provide value-added fulfillment and transportation management services to customers through our global network of company-owned and leased distribution centers and field stocking locations. We leverage a global network of more than 900 facilities in more than 100 countries around the globe to ensure products and parts are in the right place, at the right time.
Our distribution centers are strategically located near UPS air and ground transportation hubs for rapid delivery to consumer and business markets. In 2017, UPS began piloting a new integrated transportation fulfillment solution for small business e-commerce merchants, enabling them to rapidly expand and grow their offerings without additional capital investments. In 2018, we expanded our network to support new business growth by adding more than 1.6 million square feet of distribution capacity.
Also in 2018, we rolled out new cloud-based transportation and warehouse management software platforms to drive higher operational efficiency and improve service to customers. The result has been better visibility, more rapid onboarding of customers and improved flexibility and response times.
Building on a 2017 pilot program, in 2018 we expanded a new integrated transportation-fulfillment solution for small business e-commerce merchants in the United States. The program enables small merchants to rapidly expand and grow their online offerings by providing connectivity to multiple marketplaces.
UPS Post Sales, our service parts logistics solution, relies on a global network of central and field stocking sites to provide critical spare parts when and where customers need them. In 2018, we implemented new technology to support our Implantable Medical Device solution, which helps ensure surgical kits and devices arrive safely and on time at hospitals and surgery centers. This integrated solution was built in collaboration with WebOps, a medical device logistics and analytics technology provider, and Baxter Planning, an inventory planning and optimization solutions provider. We continue to expand UPS Access Point locations into our network, offering greater flexibility, more convenience and improved service for our customers.
UPS Express Critical provides urgent, secure transportation for time-sensitive and high-value goods. It includes same-day, next-flight-out and door-to-door ground services, including specialized charter and hand-carry services for both lightweight and heavyweight shipments.
UPS Freight
UPS Freight offers regional, inter-regional and long-haul less-than-truckload ("LTL") services in all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Mexico. UPS Freight provides reliable LTL service backed by a day-definite, on-time guarantee at no additional cost. UPS Freight also provides dedicated contract carriage truckload services to select clients. Additionally, user friendly shipping, visibility and billing technology offerings, including UPS WorldShip, Quantum View and UPS Billing Center, allow freight customers to create electronic bills of lading, monitor shipment progress and reconcile shipping charges.
Customs Brokerage
We are among the world’s largest customs brokers by both the number of shipments processed annually and by the number of dedicated brokerage employees worldwide. In addition to customs clearance services, we also provide product classification, trade management, duty drawback and consulting services through STTAS, a UPS company. STTAS was acquired in 2017 and is a major differentiator in our ability to become the global broker of choice in all markets important to our customers. In 2017, we also added to our portfolio UPS Zone Solutions, a leader in Foreign Trade Zone administration services in the United States.
UPS Capital
UPS Capital provides financial, insurance and payment services to leverage cash and help protect companies from risk in their supply chains. With services available in 22 countries and territories, UPS Capital and its affiliates support all aspects of the order-to-cash cycle, including financing inventory warehoused overseas, insuring shipments and providing payment solutions. The UPS Capital suite of insurance services, trade finance and payment solutions helps customers protect their assets and keeps their businesses running smoothly. UPS Capital also offers insured transportation of high value goods including loose gemstones, finished jewelry and wristwatches.
Our People
The strength of our company is our people, working together with a common purpose. We had more than 481,000 employees (excluding temporary seasonal employees) as of December 31, 2018, of which 399,000 are in the U.S. and 82,000 are located internationally. Our global workforce includes approximately 85,000 management employees (41% of whom are part-time) and 396,000 hourly employees (50% of whom are part-time).
As of December 31, 2018, we had approximately 283,000 employees employed under a national master agreement and various supplemental agreements with local unions affiliated with the Teamsters. These agreements expired on July 31, 2018. On October 5, 2018, the Teamsters declared that the tentative national master agreement for the U.S. Domestic Package business unit was considered ratified, and will be implemented as soon as five remaining local and supplemental agreements are negotiated and ratified. We remain in the process of negotiating and ratifying four of these local and supplemental agreements which, when ratified, will be retroactive to August 1, 2018. The UPS Freight business unit national master agreement was ratified on November 11, 2018.
We have approximately 2,800 pilots who are employed under a collective bargaining agreement with the Independent Pilots Association ("IPA"), which becomes amendable on September 1, 2021.
Our airline mechanics are covered by a collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 2727. On February 8, 2019, the airline mechanics who are covered by this agreement voted to ratify a new contract which will become amendable November 1, 2023. In addition, approximately 3,100 of our auto and maintenance mechanics who are not employed under agreements with the Teamsters are employed under collective bargaining agreements with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (“IAM”) that will expire on July 31, 2019.
Competition
UPS is a global leader in logistics. We offer a broad array of services in the package and freight delivery industry and compete with many different local, regional, national and international logistics providers. Our competitors include worldwide postal services, various motor carriers, express companies, freight forwarders, air couriers and others, including startups that combine technology with crowdsourcing to focus on local market needs. Through our supply chain service offerings, we compete with a number of providers in the supply chain, financial services and information technology industries.
Competitive Strengths
Our competitive strengths include:
Global Network. We believe that our integrated global ground and air network is the most extensive in the industry. We provide all types of package services (air, ground, domestic, international, commercial and residential) through a single pickup and delivery service network. We also have extensive air freight, ocean freight, ground freight and logistics networks that provide additional capabilities in the global transportation and logistics market. Our sophisticated engineering systems allow us to optimize our network efficiency and asset utilization on a daily basis.
Global Presence. We serve more than 220 countries and territories around the world. We have a significant presence in all of the world’s major economies.
Cutting-Edge Technology. We are a global leader in developing technology that helps our customers enhance their shipping and logistics business processes to lower costs, improve service and increase efficiency.
Technology powers virtually every service we offer and every operation we perform. Customer need drives our technology offerings. We offer a variety of online service options that enable our customers to integrate UPS functionality into their own businesses not only to send, manage and track their shipments conveniently, but also to provide their customers with better information services. We provide the infrastructure for an internet presence that extends to tens of thousands of customers who have integrated UPS tools directly into their own websites.
Broad Portfolio of Services. Our portfolio of services helps customers choose the delivery option that is most appropriate for their requirements. Increasingly, our customers benefit from business solutions that integrate many UPS services beyond package delivery. For example, our supply chain services – such as freight forwarding, truckload brokerage, customs brokerage, order fulfillment and returns management – help improve the efficiency of the supply chain management process.
Customer Relationships. We focus on building and maintaining long-term customer relationships. We serve 1.5 million shipping customers and more than 9.1 million delivery customers daily. Cross selling small package, supply chain and freight services across our customer base is an important growth mechanism for UPS.
Brand Equity. We have built a leading and trusted brand that stands for quality service, reliability and service innovation. The distinctive appearance of our vehicles and the professional courtesy of our drivers are major contributors to our brand equity.
Distinctive Culture. We believe that the dedication of our employees comes in large part from our distinctive “employee-owner” concept. Our employee stock ownership tradition dates back to 1927, when our founders, who believed that employee stock ownership was a vital foundation for successful business, first offered stock to employees. To encourage employee stock ownership, we maintain several stock-based compensation programs.
Financial Strength. Our financial strength gives us the resources to achieve global scale; to invest in employee development, technology, transportation equipment and facilities; to pursue strategic opportunities that facilitate our growth; to service our obligations and to return value to our shareowners in the form of dividends, share repurchases and steady share growth.
Government Regulation
We are subject to numerous laws and regulations in connection with our package and non-package businesses in the countries in which we operate. Certain of these laws and regulations are summarized below.
Air Operations
The U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”), the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, through the Transportation Security Administration (“TSA”), have regulatory authority over United Parcel Service Co.’s (“UPS Airlines”) air transportation services. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as amended, is the statutory basis for DOT and FAA authority and the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, as amended, is the basis for TSA aviation security authority.
The DOT’s authority primarily relates to economic aspects of air transportation, such as insurance requirements, discriminatory pricing, non-competitive practices, interlocking relations and cooperative agreements. The DOT also regulates, subject to the authority of the President of the United States, international routes, fares, rates and practices and is authorized to investigate and take action against discriminatory treatment of U.S. air carriers abroad. International operating rights for U.S. airlines are usually subject to bilateral agreements between the U.S. and foreign governments or, in the absence of such agreements, by principles of reciprocity. We are also subject to current and potential aviation regulations imposed by foreign governments in the countries in which we operate, including registration and license requirements and security regulations. UPS Airlines has international route operating rights granted by the DOT and we may apply for additional authorities when those operating rights are available and are required for the efficient operation of our international network. The efficiency and flexibility of our international air transportation network is dependent on DOT and foreign government regulations and operating restrictions.
The FAA’s authority primarily relates to safety aspects of air transportation, including aircraft operating procedures, transportation of hazardous materials, record keeping standards and maintenance activities and personnel. In 1988, the FAA granted us an operating certificate, which remains in effect so long as we meet the safety and operational requirements of the applicable FAA regulations. In addition, we are subject to non-U.S. government regulation of aviation rights involving non-U.S. jurisdictions and non-U.S. customs regulation.
UPS aircraft maintenance programs and procedures, including aircraft inspection and repair at periodic intervals, are approved for all aircraft under FAA regulations. The future cost of repairs pursuant to these programs may fluctuate according to aircraft condition, age and the enactment of additional FAA regulatory requirements.
The TSA regulates various security aspects of air cargo transportation in a manner consistent with the TSA mission statement to “protect the Nation’s transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce.” UPS Airlines, and specified airport and off-airport locations, are regulated under TSA regulations applicable to the transportation of cargo in an air network. In addition, personnel, facilities and procedures involved in air cargo transportation must comply with TSA regulations.
UPS Airlines, along with a number of other domestic airlines, participates in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (“CRAF”) program. Our participation in the CRAF program allows the U.S. Department of Defense (“DOD”) to requisition specified UPS Airlines aircraft for military use during a national defense emergency. The DOD is required to compensate us for the use of aircraft under the CRAF program. In addition, participation in CRAF entitles UPS Airlines to bid for other U.S. Government opportunities including small package and air freight.
Ground Operations
Our ground transportation of packages in the U.S. is subject to regulation by the DOT and its agency, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (the “FMCSA”) and the states’ jurisdiction with respect to the regulation of operations, safety, insurance and hazardous materials. We also must comply with the safety and fitness regulations promulgated by the FMCSA, including those relating to drug and alcohol testing and hours of service for drivers. We are subject to similar regulation in many non-U.S. jurisdictions.
The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 created the U.S. Postal Service as an independent establishment of the executive branch of the federal government, and created the Postal Rate Commission, an independent agency, to recommend postal rates. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 amended the 1970 Act to give the re-named Postal Regulatory Commission revised oversight authority over many aspects of the Postal Service, including postal rates, product offerings and service standards. We sometimes participate in the proceedings before the Postal Regulatory Commission in an attempt to secure fair postal rates for competitive services.
Our ground operations are subject to compliance with various cargo-security and transportation regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including regulation by the TSA.
Customs
We are subject to the customs laws in the countries in which we operate, regarding the import and export of shipments, including those related to the filing of documents on behalf of client importers and exporters. Our activities in the U.S., including customs brokerage and freight forwarding, are subject to regulation by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, the TSA, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission and the DOT. Our international operations are subject to similar regulatory structures in their respective jurisdictions.
Environmental
We are subject to federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations across all of our business units. These laws and regulations cover a variety of processes, including, but not limited to: proper storage, handling and disposal of waste materials; appropriately managing wastewater and stormwater; monitoring and maintaining the integrity of underground storage tanks; complying with laws regarding clean air, including those governing emissions; protecting against and appropriately responding to spills and releases and communicating the presence of reportable quantities of hazardous materials to local responders. We have established site- and activity-specific environmental compliance and pollution prevention programs to address our environmental responsibilities and remain compliant. In addition, we have created numerous programs which seek to minimize waste and prevent pollution within our operations.
Pursuant to the Federal Aviation Act, the FAA, with the assistance of the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), is authorized to establish standards governing aircraft noise. Our aircraft fleet is in compliance with current noise standards of the federal aviation regulations. Our international operations are also subject to noise regulations in certain countries in which we operate.
Communications and Data Protection
Because of our extensive use of radio and other communication facilities in our aircraft and ground transportation operations, we are subject to the Federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended. In addition, the Federal Communications Commission regulates and licenses our activities pertaining to satellite communications. There has recently been increased regulatory and enforcement focus on data protection in the U.S. (at both the state and federal level) and in other countries. For example, the European Union (“E.U.”) General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which became effective in May 2018, greatly increases the jurisdictional reach of E.U. law and increases the requirements related to personal data, including individual notice and opt-out preferences and public disclosure of significant data breaches. Additionally, violations of the GDPR can result in significant fines. Other governments have enacted or are enacting similar data protection laws, and are considering data localization laws that would govern the use of data outside of their respective jurisdictions.
Where You Can Find More Information
We maintain a website at www.ups.com. Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed with or furnished to the SEC pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are made available through our website www.investors.ups.com as soon as reasonably practical after we electronically file or furnish the reports to the SEC. However, information on these websites is not incorporated by reference into this report or any other report filed with or furnished to the SEC.
We have adopted a written Code of Business Conduct that applies to all of our directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer and senior financial officers. It is available in the governance section of our investor relations website, located at www.investors.ups.com. In the event that we make changes in, or provide waivers from, the provisions of the Code of Business Conduct that the SEC requires us to disclose, we intend to disclose these events in the governance section of our investor relations website.
Our Corporate Governance Guidelines and the Charters for our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Executive Committee, Risk Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee are also available in the governance section of our investor relations website.
Our sustainability report, which describes our activities that support our commitment to acting responsibly and contributing to society, is available at www.sustainability.ups.com. We provide the addresses to our internet sites solely for the information of investors. We do not intend for any addresses to be active links or to otherwise incorporate the contents of any website into this report.
Our business, financial condition and results are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. In connection with any investment decision, you should carefully consider the following factors, which could materially affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. You should read these Risk Factors in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Item 7 and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes in Item 8.
General economic conditions, both in the U.S. and internationally, may adversely affect our results of operations.
We conduct operations in over 220 countries and territories. Our U.S. and international operations are subject to normal cycles affecting the economy in general, as well as the local economic environments in which we operate. The factors that create cyclical changes to the economy and to our business are beyond our control, may adversely impact our credit rating and it may be difficult for us to adjust our business model to mitigate the impact of these factors. In particular, our business is affected by levels of industrial production, consumer spending and retail activity and our business, financial position and results of operations could be materially affected by adverse developments in these aspects of the economy. In addition, there remains substantial economic uncertainty arising from the United Kingdom’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union. In 2017 the U.K. government initiated a process to leave the E.U., and the U.K. and the E.U. continue to negotiate the future relationship between the U.K. and the E.U., which could take several years to finalize. The results of these negotiations could result in, among other things, fewer goods being transported globally, volatility in currency exchange rates and further regulations relating to, among other things, trade and aviation. Any of the foregoing could materially adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.
We face significant competition which could adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.
We face significant competition on a local, regional, national and international basis. Our competitors include the postal services of the U.S. and other nations, various motor carriers, express companies, freight forwarders, air couriers and others, including start ups and other companies that combine technologies with crowdsourcing to focus on local market needs. Competition may also come from other sources in the future, including as a result of the development of new technologies. Some of our competitors may have cost and organizational structures that differ from ours and may offer services and pricing terms that we may not be willing or able to offer. Additionally, to remain competitive, we may have to raise costs to our customers and our customers may not be willing to accept these higher costs. If we are unable to timely and appropriately respond to competitive pressures, our business, financial position and results of operations could be adversely affected.
The transportation industry continues to consolidate and competition remains strong. As a result of consolidation, our competitors may increase their market share and improve their financial capacity, and may strengthen their competitive positions. Business combinations could also result in competitors providing a wider variety of services and products at competitive prices, which could adversely affect our financial performance.
Changes in our relationships with our significant customers, including the loss or reduction in business from one or more of them, could have an adverse impact on us.
No single customer accounts for 10% or more of our consolidated revenue. We do not believe the loss of any single customer would materially impair our overall financial condition or results of operations; however, collectively, some of our large customers might account for a relatively significant portion of the growth in revenue in a particular quarter or year. These customers can drive the growth in revenue for particular services based on factors such as: new customer product launches; trends in the e-commerce industry, such as the seasonality associated with the fourth quarter holiday season; business mergers and acquisitions and the overall fast growth of a customer's underlying business. These customers could choose to divert all or a portion of their business with us to one of our competitors, demand pricing concessions for our services, require us to provide enhanced services that increase our costs, or develop their own shipping and distribution capabilities. If these factors drove some of our large customers to cancel all or a portion of their business relationships with us, it could materially impact the growth in our business and the ability to meet our current and long-term financial forecasts.
Our business is subject to complex and stringent regulation in the U.S. and internationally, which could increase our operating costs.
We are subject to complex and stringent aviation, transportation, environmental, security, labor, employment and other governmental laws, regulations and policies, both in the U.S. and in the other countries in which we operate. In addition, our business is impacted by laws, regulations and policies that affect global trade, including tariff and trade policies, export requirements, taxes, monetary policies and other restrictions and charges. Recently, trade discussions between the U.S. and some of its trading partners have been fluid, and any trade agreements that may be entered into are subject to a number of uncertainties, including the imposition of new tariffs or adjustments and changes to the products covered by existing tariffs. The impact of new laws, regulations and policies cannot be predicted. Compliance with new laws and regulations may increase our operating costs or require significant capital expenditures. Any failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations in the U.S. or in any of the countries in which we operate could result in substantial fines or possible revocation of our authority to conduct our operations, which could adversely affect our financial performance.
Increased security requirements could impose substantial costs on us and we could be the target of an attack or have a security breach.
As a result of concerns about global terrorism and homeland security, governments around the world have adopted or may adopt stricter security requirements that will result in increased operating costs for businesses in the transportation industry. These requirements may change periodically as a result of regulatory and legislative requirements and in response to evolving threats. We cannot determine the effect that these new requirements will have on our cost structure or our operating results, and these rules or other future security requirements may increase our costs of operations and reduce operating efficiencies. Regardless of our compliance with security requirements or the steps we take to secure our facilities or fleet, we could be the target of an attack or security breaches could occur, which could materially adversely affect our operations or our reputation.
We are subject to increasingly stringent regulations related to climate change, and new regulations could materially increase our operating costs.
Concern over climate change, including the impact of global warming, has led to significant legislative and regulatory efforts, particularly internationally but also in the United States, to limit greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. State and local governments also are increasingly considering GHG regulation. The possibility of increased regulation of GHG emissions potentially exposes our transportation and logistics businesses to significant new taxes, fees and other costs. Compliance with such potential regulation or the associated potential costs is further complicated by the fact that various countries and regions are following different approaches to the regulation of climate change.
For example, in 2009 the European Commission approved the extension to the airline industry of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (“ETS”) for GHG emissions. Under this decision, all of our flights operating within the European Union are covered by the ETS requirements, and we are required annually to purchase emission allowances in an amount exceeding the number of free allowances allocated to us under the ETS. Similarly, in 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization (“ICAO”) passed a resolution adopting the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (“CORSIA”), which is a global, market-based emissions offset program to encourage carbon-neutral growth beyond 2020. A pilot phase is scheduled to begin in 2021 in which countries may voluntarily participate, and full mandatory participation is scheduled to begin in 2027. ICAO continues to develop details regarding implementation, but compliance with CORSIA will increase our operating costs.
In the U.S., Congress in the past several years has considered various bills that would regulate GHG emissions, but these bills so far have not received sufficient Congressional support for enactment. Nevertheless, some form of federal climate change legislation is possible in the future. Even in the absence of such legislation, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), spurred by judicial interpretation of the Clean Air Act, could determine to regulate GHG emissions, especially aircraft or diesel engine emissions, and this could impose substantial costs on us.
In August 2017, the U.S. announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, an agreement among 196 countries to reduce GHG emissions, and the effect of that withdrawal on future U.S. policy regarding GHG emissions, on CORSIA and on other GHG regulation is uncertain. Nevertheless, the extent to which other countries implement that agreement could have an adverse direct or indirect effect on our business.
We may face additional regulations regarding GHG emissions internationally and in the United States. Potential costs to us of increased regulation regarding GHG emissions, especially aircraft or diesel engine emissions, include an increase in the cost of the fuel and other energy we purchase and capital costs associated with updating or replacing our aircraft or vehicles prematurely. We cannot predict the impact any future regulation would have on our cost structure or our operating results. It is possible that such regulation could significantly increase our operating expenses if we are unable to pass such costs along to our customers. Moreover, even without such regulation, increased awareness and any adverse publicity in the global marketplace about the GHGs emitted by companies in the airline and transportation industries could harm our reputation and reduce customer demand for our services, especially our air services.
Strikes, work stoppages and slowdowns by our employees could adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.
A significant number of our employees are employed under a national master agreement and various supplemental agreements with local unions affiliated with the Teamsters. In addition, our airline pilots, airline mechanics, ground mechanics and certain other employees are employed under other collective bargaining agreements. Strikes, work stoppages and slowdowns by our employees could adversely affect our ability to meet our customers' needs, and customers may do more business with competitors if they believe that such actions or threatened actions may adversely affect our ability to provide services. We may face a permanent loss of customers if we are unable to provide uninterrupted service, and this could materially adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations. The terms of future collective bargaining agreements also may affect our competitive position and results of operations.
We are exposed to the effects of changing prices of energy, as well as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, and interruptions in supplies of these commodities.
Changing fuel and energy costs may have a significant impact on our operations. We require significant quantities of fuel for our aircraft and delivery vehicles and are exposed to the risk associated with variations in the market price for petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. We mitigate our exposure to changing fuel prices through our indexed fuel surcharges and we may also enter into hedging transactions from time to time. If we are unable to maintain or increase our fuel surcharges, higher fuel costs could adversely impact our operating results. Even if we are able to offset the cost of fuel with our surcharges, high fuel surcharges may result in a mix shift from our higher-yielding air products to lower-yielding ground products or an overall reduction in volume. There can be no assurance that our hedging transactions will be effective to protect us from changes in fuel prices. Moreover, we could experience a disruption in energy supplies as a result of war, actions by producers or other factors beyond our control, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Changes in exchange rates or interest rates may have a material adverse effect on our results.
We conduct business across the globe with a significant portion of our revenue derived from operations outside the United States. Our operations in international markets are affected by changes in the exchange rates for local currencies, and in particular the Euro, British Pound Sterling, Canadian Dollar, Chinese Renminbi and Hong Kong Dollar.
We are exposed to changes in interest rates, primarily on our short-term debt and that portion of our long-term debt that carries floating interest rates. The impact of a 100-basis-point change in interest rates affecting our debt is discussed in the “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” section of this report. Additionally, changes in interest rates impact the valuation of our pension and postretirement benefit obligations and the related benefit cost recognized in the income statement. The impact of changes in interest rates on our pension and postretirement benefit obligations and costs is discussed further in the "Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates" section of this report.
We monitor and manage our exposures to changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, and make use of derivative instruments to mitigate the impact of changes in these rates on our financial position and results of operations; however, changes in exchange rates and interest rates cannot always be predicted or hedged.
If we are unable to maintain our brand image and corporate reputation, our business may suffer.
Our success depends in part on our ability to maintain the image of the UPS brand and our reputation for providing excellent service to our customers. Service quality issues, actual or perceived, even when false or unfounded, could tarnish the image of our brand and may cause customers to use other companies. Also, adverse publicity surrounding labor relations, environmental concerns, security matters, political activities and the like, or attempts to connect our company to these sorts of issues, either in the United States or other countries in which we operate, could negatively affect our overall reputation and acceptance of our services by customers. Social media may accelerate and amplify the scope of negative publicity, and increase the challenge of responding to negative claims. Damage to our reputation and loss of brand equity could reduce demand for our services and thus have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations, and could require additional resources to rebuild our reputation and restore the value of our brand.
A significant data breach or IT system disruption could adversely affect our business, financial results, or reputation, and we may be required to increase our spending on data and system security.
We rely heavily on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to manage or support a wide variety of important business processes and activities throughout our operations. For example, we rely on information technology to receive package level information in advance of physical receipt of packages, to track items that move through our delivery systems, to efficiently plan deliveries, to execute billing processes, and to track and report financial and operational data. Our franchised center locations and businesses we have acquired also are reliant on the use of information technology systems to manage their business processes and activities.
In addition, the provision of service to our customers and the operation of our networks and systems involve the storage and transmission of significant amounts of proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data, including personal information of customers, employees and others. To conduct our operations, we regularly move data across national borders, and consequently we are subject to a variety of continuously evolving and developing laws and regulations in the United States and abroad regarding privacy, data protection and data security. The scope of the laws that may be applicable to us is often uncertain and may be conflicting, particularly with respect to foreign laws. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which greatly increases the jurisdictional reach of European Union law and adds a broad array of requirements for handling personal data, including the public disclosure of significant data breaches, became effective in May 2018. Other countries have enacted or are enacting data localization laws that require data to stay within their borders. All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements impose significant costs that are likely to increase over time.
Our information technology systems (as well as those of our franchisees and acquired businesses) may be susceptible to damage, disruptions or shutdowns due to failures during the process of upgrading or replacing software, databases or components thereof, power outages, hardware failures, computer viruses, cyber-attacks, ransomware attacks, malware attacks, malicious employees or other insiders, telecommunications failures, human errors or catastrophic events. Hackers, foreign governments, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals, acting individually or in coordinated groups, may launch distributed denial of service attacks or other coordinated attacks that may cause service outages, gain inappropriate or block legitimate access to systems or information, or result in other interruptions in our business. In addition, breaches in security could expose us, our customers and franchisees, or the individuals affected, to a risk of loss or misuse of proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data, including personal information of customers, employees and others. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently, may be difficult to detect for a long time and often are not recognized until launched against a target. As a result, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures.
We also depend on and interact with the information technology networks and systems of third-parties for many aspects of our business operations, including our customers and franchisees and service providers such as cloud service providers and third-party delivery services. These third parties may have access to information we maintain about our company, operations, customers, employees and vendors, or operating systems that are critical to or can significantly impact our business operations. Like us, these third-parties are subject to risks imposed by data breaches and cyber-attacks and other events or actions that could damage, disrupt or close down their networks or systems. Security processes, protocols and standards that we have implemented and contractual provisions requiring security measures that we may have sought to impose on such third-parties may not be sufficient or effective at preventing such events, which could result in unauthorized access to, or disruptions or denials of access to, or misuse of, information or systems that are important to our business, including proprietary information, sensitive or confidential data, and other information about our operations, customers, employees and suppliers, including personal information.
Any of these events that impact our information technology networks or systems, or those of acquired businesses, franchisees, customers, service providers or other third-parties, could result in disruptions in our operations, the loss of existing or potential customers, damage to our brand and reputation, regulatory scrutiny, and litigation and potential liability for us. Among other consequences, our customers’ confidence in our ability to protect data and systems and to provide services consistent with their expectations could be impacted, further disrupting our operations. Similarly, an actual or alleged failure to comply with applicable U.S. or foreign data protection regulations or other data protection standards may expose us to litigation, fines, sanctions or other penalties.
We have invested and continue to invest in technology security initiatives, information technology risk management and disaster recovery plans. The cost and operational consequences of implementing, maintaining and enhancing further data or system protection measures could increase significantly to overcome increasingly intense, complex and sophisticated global cyber threats. Despite our best efforts, we are not fully insulated from data breaches and system disruptions. For example, in 2014, a broad-based malware intrusion targeting retailers throughout the U.S. was discovered and subsequently eradicated at approximately 1% of our franchisees’ locations. While the impact of this cyber-attack, including the costs associated with investigation and remediation activities, was not material to our business and our financial results, there is no assurance that such impacts will not be material in the future, and our efforts to deter, identify, mitigate and/or eliminate future breaches may require significant additional effort and expense and may not be successful.
Severe weather or other natural or manmade disasters could adversely affect our business.
Severe weather conditions and other natural or manmade disasters, including storms, floods, fires or earthquakes, epidemics or pandemics, conflicts or unrest, or terrorist attacks, may result in decreased revenues, as our customers reduce their shipments, or increased costs to operate our business, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations for a quarter or year. Any such event affecting one of our major facilities could result in a significant interruption in or disruption of our business.
We make significant capital investments in our business of which a significant portion is tied to projected volume levels.
We require significant capital investments in our business consisting of aircraft, vehicles, technology, facilities and sorting and other types of equipment to support both our existing business and anticipated growth. Forecasting projected volume involves many factors which are subject to uncertainty, such as general economic trends, changes in governmental regulation and competition. If we do not accurately forecast our future capital investment needs, we could have excess capacity or insufficient capacity, either of which would negatively affect our revenues and profitability. In addition to forecasting our capital investment requirements, we adjust other elements of our operations and cost structure in response to adverse economic conditions; however, these adjustments may not be sufficient to allow us to maintain our operating margins in a weak economy.
We derive a significant portion of our revenues from our international operations and are subject to the risks of doing business in international markets.
We have significant international operations, and while the geographical diversity of our international operations helps ensure that we are not overly reliant on a single region or country, we are continually exposed to changing economic, political and social developments that are beyond our control. Emerging markets are typically more volatile than those in the developed world, and any broad-based downturn in these markets could reduce our revenues and adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations. We are subject to many laws governing our international operations, including those that prohibit improper payments to government officials and commercial customers, and restrict where we can do business, our shipments to certain countries and the information that we can provide to non-U.S. governments.
We are subject to changes in markets and our business plans that have resulted, and may in the future result, in substantial write-downs of the carrying value of our assets, thereby reducing our net income.
Our regular review of the carrying value of our assets has resulted, from time to time, in significant impairments, and we may in the future be required to recognize additional impairment charges. Changes in business strategy, government regulations, or economic or market conditions have resulted and may result in further substantial impairments of our intangible, fixed or other assets at any time in the future. In addition, we have been and may be required in the future to recognize increased depreciation and amortization charges if we determine that the useful lives of our fixed assets or intangible assets are shorter than we originally estimated. Such changes could reduce our net income.
Employee health and retiree health and pension benefit costs represent a significant expense to us; further cost increases could materially and adversely affect us.
Our expenses relating to employee health and retiree health and pension benefits are significant. In recent years, we have experienced significant increases in some of these costs, largely as a result of economic factors beyond our control, including, in particular, ongoing increases in healthcare costs well in excess of the rate of inflation and historically low discount rates that we use to value our benefit plan obligations. Continually increasing healthcare costs, volatility in investment returns and discount rates, as well as changes in laws, regulations and assumptions used to calculate retiree health and pension benefit expenses, may adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations or require significant contributions to our benefit plans. Our national master agreement with the Teamsters includes provisions that are designed to mitigate certain of these healthcare expenses, but there can be no assurance that our efforts will be successful or that the failure or success of these efforts will not materially adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations or liquidity.
We participate in a number of trustee-managed multiemployer pension and health and welfare plans for employees covered under collective bargaining agreements. As part of the overall collective bargaining process for wage and benefit levels, we have agreed to contribute certain amounts to the multiemployer benefit plans during the contract period. The multiemployer benefit plans set benefit levels and are responsible for benefit delivery to participants. Future contribution amounts to multiemployer benefit plans will be determined only through collective bargaining, and we have no additional legal or constructive obligation to increase contributions beyond the agreed-upon amounts. However, in future collective bargaining negotiations, we could agree to make significantly higher future contributions to improve the funded status of one or more of these plans. The funded status of these multiemployer plans is impacted by various factors, including investment performance, healthcare inflation, changes in demographics and changes in participant benefit levels. At this time, we are unable to determine the amount of additional future contributions, if any, or whether any material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity could result from our participation in these plans.
In addition to our on-going multiemployer pension plan obligations, we may have additional exposure with respect to benefits earned in the Central States Pension Fund (the "CSPF"). UPS was a contributing employer to the CSPF until 2007 when we withdrew from the CSPF and fully funded our allocable share of unfunded vested benefits by paying a $6.1 billion withdrawal liability. Under a collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“IBT”), UPS agreed to provide coordinating benefits in the UPS/IBT Full Time Employee Pension Plan (“UPS/IBT Plan”) for UPS participants whose last employer was UPS and who had not retired as of January 1, 2008 (“the UPS Transfer Group”) in the event that benefits are lawfully reduced by the CSPF in the future consistent with the terms of our withdrawal agreement with the CSPF. Under our withdrawal agreement with the CSPF, benefits to the UPS Transfer Group cannot be reduced without our consent and can only be reduced in accordance with applicable law.
In December 2014, Congress passed the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (“MPRA”). This change in law for the first time permitted multiemployer pension plans to reduce benefit payments to retirees, subject to specific guidelines in the statute and government approval. In September 2015, the CSPF submitted a proposed pension benefit reduction plan to the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”). In May 2016, Treasury rejected the proposed plan submitted by the CSPF. In the first quarter of 2018, Congress established a Joint Select Committee to develop a recommendation to improve the solvency of multiemployer plans and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) before a November 30, 2018 deadline. While the Committee’s efforts failed to meet its deadline, the Committee made significant progress towards finding solutions that will address the long term solvency of multiemployer pension plans. UPS will continue to work with all stakeholders, including legislators and regulators, to implement an acceptable solution.
The CSPF has said that it believes a legislative solution to its funded status is necessary or that it will become insolvent in 2025, and we expect that the CSPF will continue to explore options to avoid insolvency. Numerous factors could affect the CSPF’s funded status and UPS’s potential obligation to pay coordinating benefits under the UPS/IBT Plan. Any obligation to pay coordinating benefits will be subject to a number of significant uncertainties, including whether the CSPF submits a revised MPRA filing and the terms thereof, or whether it otherwise seeks federal government assistance, as well as the terms of any applicable legislation, the extent to which benefits are paid by the PBGC and our ability to successfully defend legal positions we may take in the future under the MPRA, including the suspension ordering provisions, our withdrawal agreement and other applicable law.
We account for the potential obligation to pay coordinating benefits to the UPS Transfer Group under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 715- Compensation- Retirement Benefits (“ASC 715”), which requires us to provide a best estimate of various actuarial assumptions, including the eventual outcome of this matter, in measuring our pension benefit obligation at the December 31st measurement date. While we currently believe the most likely outcome to this matter and the broader systemic problems facing multiemployer pension plans is intervention by the federal government, ASC 715 does not permit anticipation of changes in law in making a best estimate of pension liabilities.
As such, our best estimate of the next most likely outcome at the measurement date is that the CSPF submits and implements another benefit reduction plan under the MPRA during 2019. We believe any MPRA filing would be designed to forestall insolvency by reducing benefits to participants other than the UPS Transfer Group to the maximum extent permitted, and then reducing benefits to the UPS Transfer Group by a lesser amount.
We have evaluated this outcome using a deterministic cash flow projection, reflecting updated estimated CSPF cash flows and investment earnings, the lack of legislative action and the absence of a MPRA filing by the CSPF in 2018. As a result, at the December 31, 2018 measurement date, the best estimate of our projected benefit obligation increased by $1.6 billion for coordinating benefits that may be required to be directly provided by the UPS/IBT Plan to the UPS Transfer Group.
The future value of this estimate will be influenced by the terms and timing of any MPRA filing, changes in our discount rate, rate of return on assets and other actuarial assumptions, presumed solvency of the PBGC, as well as potential solutions resulting from federal government intervention. Any such event may result in a decrease or an increase in the best estimate of our projected benefit obligation. If the uncertainties are not resolved, it is reasonably possible that our projected benefit obligation could increase by approximately $2.4 billion, resulting in a total obligation for coordinating benefits of approximately $4.0 billion as previously disclosed. If a future change in law occurs, it may be a significant event requiring an interim remeasurement of the UPS/IBT Plan at the date the law is enacted. We will continue to assess the impact of these uncertainties on our projected benefit obligation in accordance with ASC 715.
We may have additional tax liabilities.
We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and many foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. In the course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. For example, compliance with the 2017 United States Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) may require the collection of information not regularly produced within our company and the exercise of significant judgment in accounting for its provisions. Many aspects of the Tax Act remain unclear and may not be clarified for some time. In addition, many state jurisdictions continue to issue guidance on the state treatment of certain aspects of the Tax Act. As regulations and guidance evolve with respect to the Tax Act, our results may differ from previous estimates and may materially affect our tax rates and our financial position.
We regularly are under audit by tax authorities in different jurisdictions. Economic and political pressures to increase tax revenue in various jurisdictions may make resolving tax disputes favorably more difficult. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits and any related litigation in the jurisdictions where we are subject to taxation could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals. In addition, changes in U.S. federal and state or international tax laws applicable to corporate multinationals, other fundamental law changes currently being considered by many countries, including the U.S., and changes in taxing jurisdictions’ administrative interpretations, decisions, policies and positions may materially adversely impact our tax expense and cash flows.
We may be subject to various claims and lawsuits that could result in significant expenditures.
The nature of our business exposes us to the potential for various claims and litigation related to labor and employment, personal injury, property damage, business practices, environmental liability and other matters. Any material litigation or a catastrophic accident or series of accidents could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.
We may not realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions, joint ventures or strategic alliances.
As part of our business strategy, we may acquire businesses and form joint ventures or strategic alliances. Whether we realize the anticipated benefits from these transactions depends, in part, upon the successful integration between the businesses involved, the performance of the underlying operations, capabilities or technologies and the management of the acquired operations. Accordingly, our financial results could be materially adversely affected by our failure to effectively integrate the acquired operations, unanticipated performance issues, transaction-related charges or charges for impairment of long-term assets that we acquire.
Insurance and claims expenses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We have a combination of both self-insurance and high-deductible insurance programs for the risks arising out of the services we provide and the nature of our global operations, including claims exposure resulting from cargo loss, personal injury, property damage, aircraft and related liabilities, business interruption and workers' compensation. Workers' compensation, automobile and general liabilities are determined using actuarial estimates of the aggregate liability for claims incurred and an estimate of incurred but not reported claims, on an undiscounted basis. Our accruals for insurance reserves reflect certain actuarial assumptions and management judgments, which are subject to a high degree of variability. If the number or severity of claims for which we are retaining risk increases, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. If we lose our ability to self-insure these risks, our insurance costs could materially increase and we may find it difficult to obtain adequate levels of insurance coverage.
| |
Item 1B. | Unresolved Staff Comments |
Not applicable.
Operating Facilities
We own our headquarters, which is located in Atlanta, Georgia and consists of about 745,000 square feet of office space in an office campus, and our UPS Supply Chain Solutions group’s headquarters, which is located in Alpharetta, Georgia and consists of about 310,000 square feet of office space.
We own or lease over 1,000 package operating facilities in the U.S., with approximately 73 million square feet of floor space. The smaller of these facilities have vehicles and drivers stationed for the pick-up and delivery of packages, and capacity to sort and transfer packages. The larger of these facilities also service our vehicles and equipment, and employ specialized mechanical installations for the sorting and handling of packages. We own or lease approximately 800 facilities that support our international package operations, with approximately 22 million square feet of floor space.
In addition, we own or lease more than 500 facilities, with approximately 35 million square feet of floor space, that support our freight forwarding and logistics operations. We own and operate a logistics campus consisting of approximately 4 million square feet in Louisville, Kentucky.
We own or lease approximately 200 UPS Freight service centers with approximately 6 million square feet of floor space. The main offices of UPS Freight are located in Richmond, Virginia and consist of about 217,000 square feet of office space.
Our aircraft are operated in a hub and spoke pattern in the U.S., with our principal air hub, known as Worldport, located in Louisville, Kentucky. The Worldport facility consists of over 5 million square feet and includes high-speed conveyor and computer control systems.
We also own or lease regional air hubs globally, with over 4 million square feet of floor space. Our U.S. regional air hubs are located in Dallas, Texas; Ontario, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Rockford, Illinois. These hubs house facilities for the sorting, transfer and delivery of packages. Our European air hub is located in Cologne, Germany, and we maintain Asia-Pacific air hubs in Shanghai, China; Shenzhen, China; and Hong Kong. Our regional air hub in Canada is located in Hamilton, Ontario, and our regional air hub for Latin America and the Caribbean is in Miami, Florida.
Our primary information technology operations are consolidated in a 444,000 square foot owned facility, the Ramapo Ridge facility, in Mahwah, New Jersey. Our information technology headquarters is located in Parsippany, New Jersey, consisting of about 200,000 square feet of office space. We also own a 175,000 square foot facility in Alpharetta, Georgia, which serves as a backup to the main information technology operations facility in New Jersey. This facility provides production functions and backup capacity in the event that a power outage or other disaster incapacitates the main data center. It also helps to meet our internal communication needs.
Fleet
Aircraft
The following table shows information about our aircraft fleet as of December 31, 2018:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Description | Owned and Capital Leases | | Short-term Leased or Chartered From Others | | On Order | | Under Option |
Boeing 757-200 | 75 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Boeing 767-200 | — |
| | 2 |
| | | | |
Boeing 767-300 | 59 |
| | — |
| | 9 |
| | — |
|
Boeing 767-300BCF | 3 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Airbus A300-600 | 52 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Boeing MD-11 | 37 |
| | 5 |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Boeing 747-400F | 11 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Boeing 747-400BCF | 2 |
| | — |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Boeing 747-8F | 9 |
| | — |
| | 19 |
| | — |
|
Other | — |
| | 309 |
| | — |
| | — |
|
Total | 248 |
| | 316 |
| | 28 |
| | — |
|
Vehicles
We operate a global ground fleet of approximately 123,000 package cars, vans, tractors and motorcycles. Our ground support fleet consists of 36,000 pieces of equipment designed specifically to support our aircraft fleet, ranging from non-powered container dollies and racks to powered aircraft main deck loaders and cargo tractors. We also have 47,000 containers used to transport cargo in our aircraft.
See note 5 to the audited consolidated financial statements for a discussion of pension related matters and note 9 for a discussion of judicial proceedings and other matters arising from the conduct of our business activities.
| |
Item 4. | Mine Safety Disclosures |
Not applicable.
PART II
| |
Item 5. | Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities |
Our class A common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange or traded in an organized over-the-counter market, but each share of our class A common stock is convertible into one share of our class B common stock. Our class B common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “UPS”.
As of February 8, 2019, there were 155,651 and 19,151 shareowners of record of class A and class B common stock, respectively.
Our practice has been to pay dividends on a quarterly basis. The declaration of dividends is subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend on various factors, including our net income, financial condition, cash requirements, future prospects and other relevant factors.
On February 15, 2019, our Board declared a dividend of $0.96 per share, which is payable on March 12, 2019 to shareowners of record on February 26, 2019. This represents a 5.5% increase from the previous $0.91 per share quarterly dividend paid in December 2018.
A summary of repurchases of our class A and class B common stock during the fourth quarter of 2018 is as follows (in millions, except per share amounts):
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Total Number of Shares Purchased(1) | | Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Program | | Average Price Paid Per Share | | Approximate Dollar Value of Shares that May Yet be Purchased Under the Program (as of month-end) |
October 1—October 31 | 0.8 |
| | 0.8 |
| | $ | 116.96 |
| | $ | 3,495 |
|
November 1—November 30 | 0.7 |
| | 0.7 |
| | 110.33 |
| | 3,416 |
|
December 1—December 31 | 0.8 |
| | 0.8 |
| | 101.13 |
| | 3,339 |
|
Total October 1—December 31 | 2.3 |
| | 2.3 |
| | $ | 109.41 |
| | |
| |
(1) | Includes shares repurchased through our publicly announced share repurchase program and shares tendered to pay the exercise price and tax withholding on employee stock options. |
In May 2016, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase authorization of $8.0 billion, which replaced an authorization previously announced in 2013. The share repurchase authorization has no expiration date. As of December 31, 2018, we had $3.339 billion of this share repurchase authorization remaining.
Share repurchases may take the form of accelerated share repurchases, open market purchases, or other such methods as we deem appropriate. The timing of our share repurchases will depend upon market conditions. We anticipate repurchasing approximately $1.0 billion of shares in 2019.
Shareowner Return Performance Graph
The following performance graph and related information shall not be deemed “soliciting material” or to be “filed” with the SEC, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates such information by reference into such filing.
The following graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total shareowners’ returns for our class B common stock, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Dow Jones Transportation Average. The comparison of the total cumulative return on investment, which is the change in the stock price plus reinvested dividends for each of the quarterly periods, assumes that $100 was invested on December 31, 2013 in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Dow Jones Transportation Average and our class B common stock.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12/31/2013 |
| | 12/31/2014 |
| | 12/31/2015 |
| | 12/31/2016 |
| | 12/31/2017 |
| | 12/31/2018 |
|
United Parcel Service, Inc. | $ | 100.00 |
| | $ | 108.67 |
| | $ | 101.61 |
| | $ | 124.68 |
| | $ | 133.59 |
| | $ | 112.91 |
|
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index | $ | 100.00 |
| | $ | 113.68 |
| | $ | 115.24 |
| | $ | 129.02 |
| | $ | 157.17 |
| | $ | 150.27 |
|
Dow Jones Transportation Average | $ | 100.00 |
| | $ | 125.07 |
| | $ | 104.11 |
| | $ | 126.87 |
| | $ | 151.00 |
| | $ | 132.38 |
|
For information regarding our equity compensation plans, see Item 12 of this report.
| |
Item 6. | Selected Financial Data |
The following table sets forth selected financial data for each of the five years in the period ended December 31, 2018 (in millions, except per share amounts). This financial data should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, including the Items Affecting Comparability section, and other financial data appearing elsewhere in this report.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Years Ended December 31, |
| 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2014 |
Selected Income Statement Data | | | | | | | | | |
Revenue: | | | | | | | | | |
U.S. Domestic Package | $ | 43,593 |
| | $ | 40,761 |
| | $ | 38,284 |
| | $ | 36,744 |
| | $ | 35,851 |
|
International Package | 14,442 |
| | 13,342 |
| | 12,346 |
| | 12,142 |
| | 13,032 |
|
Supply Chain & Freight | 13,826 |
| | 12,482 |
| | 10,980 |
| | 10,300 |
| | 10,295 |
|
Total Revenue | 71,861 |
| | 66,585 |
| | 61,610 |
| | 59,186 |
| | 59,178 |
|
Operating Expenses: | | | | | | | | | |
Compensation and benefits | 37,235 |
| | 34,577 |
| | 32,534 |
| | 31,448 |
| | 30,247 |
|
Other | 27,602 |
| | 24,479 |
| | 21,388 |
| | 20,495 |
| | 22,161 |
|
Total Operating Expenses | 64,837 |
| | 59,056 |
| | 53,922 |
| | 51,943 |
| | 52,408 |
|
Operating Profit: | | | | | | | | | |
U.S. Domestic Package | 3,643 |
| | 4,303 |
| | 4,628 |
| | 4,427 |
| | 4,244 |
|
International Package | 2,529 |
| | 2,429 |
| | 2,417 |
| | 2,123 |
| | 1,884 |
|
Supply Chain and Freight | 852 |
| | 797 |
| | 643 |
| | 693 |
| | 642 |
|
Total Operating Profit | 7,024 |
| | 7,529 |
| | 7,688 |
| | 7,243 |
| | 6,770 |
|
Other Income and (Expense): | | | | | | | | | |
Investment income (expense) and other | (400 | ) | | 61 |
| | (2,186 | ) | | 435 |
| | (1,776 | ) |
Interest expense | (605 | ) | | (453 | ) | | (381 | ) | | (341 | ) | | (353 | ) |
Income Before Income Taxes | 6,019 |
| | 7,137 |
| | 5,121 |
| | 7,337 |
| | 4,641 |
|
Income Tax Expense | 1,228 |
| | 2,232 |
| | 1,699 |
| | 2,497 |
| | 1,607 |
|
Net Income | $ | 4,791 |
| | $ | 4,905 |
| | $ | 3,422 |
| | $ | 4,840 |
| | $ | 3,034 |
|
Per Share Amounts: | | | | | | | | | |
Basic Earnings Per Share | $ | 5.53 |
| | $ | 5.63 |
| | $ | 3.88 |
| | $ | 5.37 |
| | $ | 3.31 |
|
Diluted Earnings Per Share | $ | 5.51 |
| | $ | 5.61 |
| | $ | 3.86 |
| | $ | 5.34 |
| | $ | 3.28 |
|
Dividends Declared Per Share | $ | 3.64 |
| | $ | 3.32 |
| | $ | 3.12 |
| | $ | 2.92 |
| | $ | 2.68 |
|
Weighted Average Shares Outstanding: | | | | | | | | | |
Basic | 866 |
| | 871 |
| | 883 |
| | 901 |
| | 916 |
|
Diluted | 870 |
| | 875 |
| | 887 |
| | 906 |
| | 924 |
|
| | | | | | | | | |
| As of December 31, |
| 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2015 | | 2014 |
Selected Balance Sheet Data: | | | | | | | | | |
Cash and marketable securities | $ | 5,035 |
| | $ | 4,069 |
| | $ | 4,567 |
| | $ | 4,726 |
| | $ | 3,283 |
|
Total assets | 50,016 |
| | 45,574 |
| | 40,545 |
| | 38,497 |
| | 35,634 |
|
Long-term debt | 19,931 |
| | 20,278 |
| | 12,394 |
| | 11,316 |
| | 9,856 |
|
Shareowners’ equity | 3,037 |
| | 1,024 |
| | 430 |
| | 2,501 |
| | 2,173 |
|
This table reflects the impact of the adoption of new accounting standards in 2018. Refer to note 1 to the audited consolidated financial statements.
| |
Item 7. | Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations |
Overview
During 2018, we produced strong revenue growth across all three segments. We realized improvements in revenue per piece as pricing and growth initiatives drove an increase in yields in all of our major products.
We achieved solid operating profit growth in both our International Package and Supply Chain & Freight segments. Operating profit in our U.S. Domestic segment operation was negatively impacted primarily by planned costs related to our transformation strategy, higher pension expenses, one less operating day and the impact of bringing new facility and technology projects on-line. The benefits of our efficiency and growth initiatives in the U.S. will not be fully realized until future periods.
Consolidated revenue increased 7.9% to $71.861 billion, up from $66.585 billion in 2017. Operating profit for 2018 decreased 6.7% to $7.024 billion, which includes the impact of $360 million pre-tax transformation strategy costs.
Consolidated average daily package volume increased 3.2% in 2018. We reported 2018 net income of $4.791 billion and diluted earnings per share of $5.51, compared to 2017 net income of $4.905 billion and diluted earnings per share of $5.61. Adjusting for the after-tax impacts of transformation costs of $273 million and an increase in pension expense due to a mark-to-market loss recognized outside of the 10% corridor of $1.237 billion ($1.627 billion before tax), net income was $6.301 billion.
Our consolidated results are presented in the table below:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | % Change |
| 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2018/ 2017 | | 2017/ 2016 |
Revenue (in millions) | $ | 71,861 |
| | $ | 66,585 |
| | $ | 61,610 |
| | 7.9 | % | | 8.1 | % |
Operating Expenses (in millions) | 64,837 |
| | 59,056 |
| | 53,922 |
| | 9.8 | % | | 9.5 | % |
Operating Profit (in millions) | $ | 7,024 |
| | $ | 7,529 |
| | $ | 7,688 |
| | (6.7 | )% | | (2.1 | )% |
Operating Margin | 9.8 | % | | 11.3 | % | | 12.5 | % | | | | |
Average Daily Package Volume (in thousands) | 20,677 |
| | 20,030 |
| | 19,083 |
| | 3.2 | % | | 5.0 | % |
Average Revenue Per Piece | $ | 10.98 |
| | $ | 10.53 |
| | $ | 10.29 |
| | 4.3 | % | | 2.3 | % |
Net Income (in millions) | $ | 4,791 |
| | $ | 4,905 |
| | $ | 3,422 |
| | (2.3 | )% | | 43.3 | % |
Basic Earnings Per Share | $ | 5.53 |
| | $ | 5.63 |
| | $ | 3.88 |
| | (1.8 | )% | | 45.1 | % |
Diluted Earnings Per Share | $ | 5.51 |
| | $ | 5.61 |
| | $ | 3.86 |
| | (1.8 | )% | | 45.3 | % |
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Items Affecting Comparability
The results and discussions that follow are reflective of how our executive management monitors the performance of our reporting segments. We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) with certain non-GAAP financial measures, including, as applicable, "adjusted" compensation and benefits, operating expenses, operating profit, operating margin, other income (expense), pre-tax income, net income and earnings per share. These adjustments reflect the non-comparable items discussed below. We believe that these adjusted financial measures provide meaningful information to assist investors and analysts in understanding our financial results and assessing our prospects for future performance. We believe these adjusted financial measures are important indicators of our recurring results of operations because they exclude items that may not be indicative of, or are unrelated to, our underlying operating results and provide a useful baseline for analyzing trends in our underlying businesses. Additionally, these adjusted financial measures are used internally by management for the determination of incentive compensation awards, business unit operating performance analysis and business unit resource allocation.
Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not as an alternative for, our reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial information does not represent a comprehensive basis of accounting. Therefore, our non-GAAP financial information may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.
The year-over-year comparisons of our financial results are affected by the following items (in millions):
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, |
Non-GAAP Adjustments | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 |
Operating Expenses: | | | | | |
Transformation Strategy Costs | $ | 360 |
| | $ | — |
| | $ | — |
|
Total Adjustments to Operating Expenses | 360 |
| | — |
| | — |
|
| | | | | |
Other Income and (Expense): | | | — |
| | — |
|
Defined Benefit Plans Mark-to-Market Charges | $ | 1,627 |
| | $ | 800 |
| | $ | 2,651 |
|
Total Adjustments to Other Income and (Expense) | 1,627 |
| | 800 |
| | 2,651 |
|
| | | | | |
Total Adjustments to Income Before Income Taxes | 1,987 |
| | 800 |
| | 2,651 |
|
| | | | | |
Income Tax Benefit from the Mark-to-Market Charges | (390 | ) | | (193 | ) | | (978 | ) |
Income Tax Benefit from Transformation Strategy Costs | (87 | ) | | — |
| | — |
|
Income Tax Benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and Other Non-U.S. Tax Law Changes | — |
| | (258 | ) | | — |
|
Total Adjustments to Income Tax Expense | $ | (477 | ) | | $ | (451 | ) | | $ | (978 | ) |
| | | | | |
Total Adjustments to Net Income | $ | 1,510 |
| | $ | 349 |
|
| $ | 1,673 |
|
These items have been excluded from comparisons of "adjusted" Compensation and benefits, Operating Expenses, Operating Profit, Operating Margin, Other Income and (Expense), Income Tax Expense and effective tax rate in the discussion that follows. The income tax effects of the transformation strategy costs and the mark-to-market charges are calculated by multiplying the statutory tax rates applicable in each tax jurisdiction, including the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various U.S. state and non-U.S. jurisdictions, by the adjustments. The blended average of the applicable statutory tax rates in 2018, 2017 and 2016 were 24.0%, 24.1% and 36.9%, respectively. We believe this adjusted information provides useful comparison of year-to-year ongoing operating performance without considering the short-term impact of transformation strategy costs. We evaluate the performance of our businesses on an adjusted basis.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Impact of Changes in Foreign Currency Exchange Rates
We supplement the reporting of our revenue, revenue per piece, and operating profit, along with other income and expense, with similar non-GAAP measures that exclude the period-over-period impact of foreign currency exchange rate changes and hedging activities. We believe currency-neutral revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit information allows users of our financial statements to understand growth trends in our products and results. We evaluate the performance of our International Package and Supply Chain & Freight businesses on a currency-neutral basis.
Currency-neutral revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit are calculated by dividing current period reported U.S. dollar revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit by the current period average exchange rates to derive current period local currency revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit. The derived current period local currency revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit are then multiplied by the average foreign exchange rates used to translate the comparable results for each month in the prior year period (including the period over period impact of foreign currency revenue hedging activities). The difference between the current period reported U.S. dollar revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit and the derived current period U.S. dollar revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit is the period over period impact of currency fluctuations.
Transformation Strategy Costs
Transformation strategy costs described in note 16 to the audited consolidated financial statements have been excluded from comparisons of "adjusted" Compensation and benefits, Other Operating Expenses, Operating Profit, Operating Margin, Income Tax Expense and effective tax rate. The pre-tax transformation strategy costs totaled $360 million ($273 million after-tax) in 2018, and reflects costs and other benefits of $262 million included within Compensation and benefits on the statements of consolidated income, and other costs of $98 million recorded to total other expenses. We believe this adjusted information provides useful comparison of year-to-year ongoing operating performance without considering the short-term impact of transformation strategy costs.
Income Tax Benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
We supplement the presentation of our income tax expense and effective tax rate with "adjusted" measures that exclude the impact of the income tax benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") described in the "Income Tax Expense" section of Management's Discussion and Analysis and note 13 to the audited consolidated financial statements. We believe income tax expense and the effective tax rate excluding the tax benefit is useful in evaluating our ongoing operating performance for the current period to that of other periods presented.
Defined Benefit Plans Mark-to-Market Charges
We recognize changes in the fair value of plan assets and net actuarial gains and losses in excess of a 10% corridor for our pension and postretirement defined benefit plans immediately as part of net periodic benefit cost other than service cost. We supplement the presentation of our Other Income and (Expense) with "adjusted" measures that exclude the impact of the portion of net periodic benefit cost other than service cost represented by the gains and losses recognized in excess of the 10% corridor and the related income tax effects.
This adjusted net periodic benefit cost ($615 million in 2018, $843 million in 2017 and $1.074 billion in 2016) utilizes the expected return on plan assets (7.68% in 2018 and 8.65% in 2017 and 2016). The non-adjusted net periodic benefit cost reflects the actual return on plan assets (-2.38% in 2018, 14.25% in 2017 and 6.06% in 2016) and the discount rate used to measure the projected benefit obligation at the December 31 measurement date (4.45% in 2018, 3.81% in 2017 and 4.34% in 2016). We believe excluding these mark-to-market charges from our adjusted results provides important supplemental information that reflects the anticipated long-term cost of our defined benefit plans and provides a benchmark for historical defined benefit cost trends that may provide a useful comparison of year-to-year financial performance without considering the short-term impact of changes in market interest rates, equity prices and similar factors.
We recognized pre-tax mark-to-market losses in "Other Income and (Expense)" of $1.627 billion, $800 million and $2.651 billion on our pension and postretirement defined benefit plans related to the remeasurement of plan assets and liabilities recognized outside of a 10% corridor, for 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The table below indicates the amounts associated with each component of the pre-tax mark-to-market losses, as well as the weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine our net periodic benefit costs, for each year:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | Year Ended December 31, |
Components of mark-to-market gain (loss) (in millions): | | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 |
Discount rates | | $ | 845 |
| | $ | (2,288 | ) | | $ | (1,953 | ) |
Return on assets | | (1,057 | ) | | 1,525 |
| | (732 | ) |
Demographic and assumption changes | | (22 | ) | | (37 | ) | | 34 |
|
Coordinating benefits attributable to the Central States Pension Fund | | (1,393 | ) | | — |
| | — |
|
Total mark-to-market gain (loss) | | $ | (1,627 | ) | | $ | (800 | ) | | $ | (2,651 | ) |
| | | | | | |
| | Year Ended December 31, |
Weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost: | | 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 |
Expected rate of return on plan assets | | 7.68 | % | | 8.65 | % | | 8.65 | % |
Actual rate of return on plan assets | | (2.38 | )% | | 14.25 | % | | 6.06 | % |
Discount rate used for net periodic benefit cost | | 3.81 | % | | 4.34 | % | | 4.81 | % |
Discount rate at measurement date | | 4.45 | % | | 3.81 | % | | 4.34 | % |
The $1.627 billion, $800 million and $2.651 billion pre-tax mark-to-market losses for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, were comprised of the following components:
2018 - $1.627 billion pre-tax mark-to-market loss:
| |
• | Return on Assets ($1.057 billion pre-tax loss): In 2018, the actual (2.38)% rate of return on plan assets was lower than our expected rate of return of 7.68%, primarily due to weak global equity markets. |
| |
• | Coordinating benefits attributable to the Central States Pension Fund ($1.393 billion pre-tax loss): This represents our current best estimate of potential coordinating benefits that may be required to be paid related to the Central States Pension Fund. |
| |
• | Discount Rates ($845 million pre-tax gain): The weighted-average discount rate for our pension and postretirement medical plans increased from 3.81% at December 31, 2017 to 4.45% at December 31, 2018, primarily due to both an increase in U.S. treasury yields and an increase in credit spreads on AA-rated corporate bonds in 2018. |
| |
• | Demographic and Assumption Changes ($22 million pre-tax loss): This represents the difference between actual and estimated participant data and demographic factors, including items such as healthcare cost trends, compensation rate increases and rates of termination, retirement and mortality. |
2017 - $800 million pre-tax mark-to-market loss:
| |
• | Discount Rates ($2.288 billion pre-tax loss): The weighted-average discount rate for our pension and postretirement medical plans decreased from 4.34% at December 31, 2016 to 3.81% at December 31, 2017, primarily due to both a decline in U.S. treasury yields and a decrease in credit spreads on AA-rated corporate bonds in 2017. |
| |
• | Return on Assets ($1.525 billion pre-tax gain): In 2017, the actual 14.25% rate of return on plan assets exceeded our expected rate of return of 8.65%, primarily due to strong global equity and U.S. bond markets. |
| |
• | Demographic and Assumption Changes ($37 million pre-tax loss): This represents the difference between actual and estimated participant data and demographic factors, including items such as healthcare cost trends, compensation rate increases and rates of termination, retirement and mortality. |
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
2016 - $2.651 billion pre-tax mark-to-market loss:
| |
• | Discount Rates ($1.953 billion pre-tax loss): The weighted-average discount rate for our pension and postretirement medical plans decreased from 4.81% at December 31, 2015 to 4.34% at December 31 2016, primarily due to a decrease in credit spreads on AA-rated corporate bonds in 2016. |
| |
• | Return on Assets ($732 million pre-tax loss): In 2016, the actual 6.06% rate of return on plan assets fell short of our expected rate of return of 8.65%, primarily due to weak bond markets. |
| |
• | Demographic and Assumption Changes ($34 million pre-tax gain): This represents the difference between actual and estimated participant data and demographic factors, including items such as healthcare cost trends, compensation rate increases and rates of termination, retirement and mortality. |
Expense Allocations
Certain operating expenses are allocated between our reporting segments using activity-based costing methods. These activity-based costing methods require us to make estimates that impact the amount of each expense category that is attributed to each segment. Changes in these estimates will directly impact the amount of expense allocated to each segment, and therefore the operating profit of each reporting segment. Our allocation methodologies are refined periodically, as necessary, to reflect changes in our businesses. There were no significant changes in our expense allocation methodologies during 2018, 2017 or 2016.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
U.S. Domestic Package Operations
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | % Change |
| 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2018/ 2017 | | 2017/ 2016 |
Average Daily Package Volume (in thousands): | | | | | | | | | |
Next Day Air | 1,542 |
| | 1,460 |
| | 1,379 |
| | 5.6 | % | | 5.9 | % |
Deferred | 1,432 |
| | 1,400 |
| | 1,350 |
| | 2.3 | % | | 3.7 | % |
Ground | 14,498 |
| | 14,060 |
| | 13,508 |
| | 3.1 | % | | 4.1 | % |
Total Avg. Daily Package Volume | 17,472 |
| | 16,920 |
| | 16,237 |
| | 3.3 | % | | 4.2 | % |
Average Revenue Per Piece: | | | | | | | | | |
Next Day Air | $ | 19.53 |
| | $ | 19.11 |
| | $ | 19.20 |
| | 2.2 | % | | (0.5 | )% |
Deferred | 13.12 |
| | 12.44 |
| | 11.85 |
| | 5.5 | % | | 5.0 | % |
Ground | 8.51 |
| | 8.19 |
| | 7.97 |
| | 3.9 | % | | 2.8 | % |
Total Avg. Revenue Per Piece | $ | 9.86 |
| | $ | 9.48 |
| | $ | 9.25 |
| | 4.0 | % | | 2.5 | % |
Operating Days in Period | 253 |
| | 254 |
| | 255 |
| | | | |
Revenue (in millions): | | | | | | | | | |
Next Day Air | $ | 7,618 |
| | $ | 7,088 |
| | $ | 6,752 |
| | 7.5 | % | | 5.0 | % |
Deferred | 4,752 |
| | 4,422 |
| | 4,080 |
| | 7.5 | % | | 8.4 | % |
Ground | 31,223 |
| | 29,251 |
| | 27,452 |
| | 6.7 | % | | 6.6 | % |
Total Revenue | $ | 43,593 |
| | $ | 40,761 |
| | $ | 38,284 |
| | 6.9 | % | | 6.5 | % |
Operating Expenses (in millions): | | | | | | | | | |
Operating Expenses | $ | 39,950 |
| | $ | 36,458 |
| | $ | 33,656 |
| | 9.6 | % | | 8.3 | % |
Transformation Strategy Costs | (235 | ) | | — |
| | — |
| | | | |
Adjusted Operating Expenses | $ | 39,715 |
| | $ | 36,458 |
| | $ | 33,656 |
| | 8.9 | % | | 8.3 | % |
Operating Profit (in millions) and Operating Margin: | | | | | | | | | |
Operating Profit | $ | 3,643 |
| | $ | 4,303 |
| | $ | 4,628 |
| | (15.3 | )% | | (7.0 | )% |
Adjusted Operating Profit | $ | 3,878 |
| | $ | 4,303 |
| | $ | 4,628 |
| | (9.9 | )% | | (7.0 | )% |
Operating Margin | 8.4 | % | | 10.6 | % | | 12.1 | % | | | | |
Adjusted Operating Margin | 8.9 | % | | 10.6 | % | | 12.1 | % | | | | |
Revenue
The change in overall revenue was impacted by the following factors for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, compared with the corresponding prior year periods:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | |
| Volume | | Rates / Product Mix | | Fuel Surcharge | | Total Revenue Change |
Revenue Change Drivers: | | | | | | | |
2018/ 2017 | 2.9 | % | | 2.5 | % | | 1.5 | % | | 6.9 | % |
2017/ 2016 | 3.8 | % | | 1.8 | % | | 0.9 | % | | 6.5 | % |
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Volume
2018 compared to 2017
Our overall volume increased across all products in 2018 despite one less operating day, largely due to continued growth in overall retail sales, of which e-commerce continues to represent a larger percentage of the total growth. Growth was focused within the retail, healthcare and manufacturing industries.
Business-to-consumer shipments, which represented more than 50% of total U.S. Domestic Package volume, grew 6.2% for the year and drove overall increases in both air and ground shipments. While business-to-business shipments were relatively flat in 2018 compared to 2017, volume grew 3% in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to 2017.
Among our air products, volume increased in 2018 for our Next Day Air and Deferred services. Solid air volume growth continued for those products most aligned with business-to-consumer shipping, including our residential Next Day Air, Next Day Air Saver and Second Day package products, as consumers continue to demand faster and more economical delivery options. This growth was slightly offset by declines in residential Next Day Air letter, Next Day Air Saver letter and Second Day letter volume.
The increase in ground volume in 2018 was driven by growth in residential ground and SurePost volume, which benefited from continued e-commerce demand. Business-to-business ground shipments were relatively flat in 2018 compared to 2017, however they grew approximately 3% in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to 2017.
2017 compared to 2016
Our overall volume increased across all products in 2017, largely due to continued growth in overall retail sales, of which e-commerce continues to represent a larger percentage of the total growth. Business-to-consumer shipments, which represented just over 50% of total U.S. Domestic Package volume, grew 9.4% for the year, which drove increases in both air and ground shipments. Business-to-business shipments decreased slightly in 2017 compared to 2016 largely due to declines in volume in professional services as a result of increased digitization, and high tech industries.
Among our air products, volume increased in 2017 for our Next Day Air and Deferred services. Solid air volume growth continued for those products most aligned with business-to-consumer shipping, including our residential Next Day Air, Next Day Air Saver and Three Day Select package products, as consumers continue to demand faster options. This growth was slightly offset by a decline in Next Day Air letter volume, largely due to declines in the professional services industry as a result of continued growth in digitization.
The increase in ground volume in 2017 was driven by growth in residential ground and SurePost volume, which benefited from continued e-commerce demand. Business-to-business shipments decreased slightly due to adverse weather conditions in third quarter 2017, however this decrease was partially offset by an increase in our return shipping services.
Rates and Product Mix
2018 compared to 2017
Overall revenue per piece increased 4.0% in 2018, and was impacted by changes in base rates, the implementation of new surcharges for oversized packages and other fees, customer and product mix and fuel surcharge rates.
Revenue per piece for ground and air products was positively impacted by a base rate increase on December 24, 2017. UPS Ground rates and UPS Air services rates increased an average net 4.9%. Effective June 4, 2018, we increased the surcharge for Over Maximum Limits, Oversize Pallet Handling, and added a shipping correction audit fee. Effective July 8, 2018, we implemented a U.S. Residential Large Package surcharge and an additional handling surcharge for packages exceeding 70 pounds. Additionally peak surcharges were in effect from October 1, 2018 through December 22, 2018 for U.S. Residential, Large Packages and packages Over Maximum Limits. The charge was designed to enable UPS to continue to offset some of the additional expenses incurred during significant volume surges. Additionally on December 5, 2018, we announced an average 4.9% base rate increase effective December 26, 2018 for UPS Ground and UPS Air services.
In the first quarter of 2017, we began our expanded Saturday ground operations to several metropolitan areas in the United States. As of December 31, 2018, Saturday service is available in approximately 6,100 cities and towns in the U.S. covering approximately 60% of the population.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Revenue per piece for all products was positively impacted by higher fuel surcharge rates in 2018 due to escalating fuel prices and increases in rates.
Revenue per piece for our Next Day Air services increased in 2018 compared with 2017. The increase in Next Day Air revenue per piece was primarily due to an increase in base rates driven by pricing initiatives and an increase in average billable weight per piece which more than offset an unfavorable shift in product mix.
Revenue per piece for our Deferred air services increased in 2018 compared with 2017 due to an increase in base rate pricing driven by pricing initiatives and average billable weight per piece offset slightly by an unfavorable shift in product mix.
Ground revenue per piece increased in 2018 compared with 2017, primarily due to base rate increases driven by our pricing initiatives. These factors were partially offset by changes in product mix, as we experienced faster volume growth in our SurePost product.
2017 compared to 2016
Overall revenue per piece increased 2.5% in 2017, and was impacted by changes in base rates, customer and product mix and fuel surcharge rates.
Revenue per piece for ground and air products was positively impacted by a base rate increase on December 26, 2016. UPS Ground rates and UPS Air services rates increased an average net 4.9%. Effective January 8, 2017, we changed the dimensional weight calculation for packages subject to UPS daily rates. On June 19, 2017, we announced a new peak charge applicable during selected weeks in November and December 2017 for U.S. Residential, Large Packages and packages Over Maximum Limits. The new charge is designed to enable UPS to continue to offset some of the additional expenses incurred during significant volume surges. Additionally on October 25, 2017, we announced an average 4.9% base rate increase effective December 24, 2017 for UPS Ground and UPS Air services.
In the first quarter of 2017, we began our expanded Saturday ground operations to several metropolitan areas in the United States. As of December 2017, Saturday service was available in approximately 4,700 cities and towns in the U.S. covering approximately 50% of the population. A Saturday pickup stop charge went into effect on May 1, 2017 and varies depending on the pickup service selected.
Revenue per piece for all products was positively impacted by higher fuel surcharge rates for 2017.
Revenue per piece for our Next Day Air services decreased in 2017 compared with 2016. The decrease in Next Day Air revenue per piece was primarily driven by a shift in product mix, as our lower yielding products experienced much larger volume growth than our higher yielding products. This shift was offset slightly by an increase in the average billable weight per piece.
Revenue per piece of our Deferred air services increased in 2017 compared with 2016. Deferred revenue per piece increased primarily due to an increase in average billable weight per piece, but was partially offset by an unfavorable shift in product mix.
Ground revenue per piece increased in 2017, primarily due to base rate increases, higher fuel surcharge rates and an increase in average billable weight per piece. These factors were partially offset by changes in product mix, as we experienced faster volume growth in our SurePost product.
Fuel Surcharges
UPS applies a fuel surcharge on our domestic air and ground services. The air fuel surcharge is based on the U.S. Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) Gulf Coast spot price for a gallon of kerosene-type jet fuel, while the ground fuel surcharge is based on the DOE’s On-Highway Diesel Fuel Price. Based on published rates, the average fuel surcharge rates for domestic air and ground products were as follows:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | % Point Change |
| 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2018/ 2017 | | 2017/ 2016 |
Next Day Air / Deferred | 7.7 | % | | 5.1 | % | | 3.6 | % | | 2.6 | % | | 1.5 | % |
Ground | 7.0 | % | | 5.6 | % | | 4.9 | % | | 1.4 | % | | 0.7 | % |
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Effective February 6, 2017, the U.S. fuel surcharge rates are reset weekly instead of monthly. In addition, the price indices have moved from a two month to a two week lag in order to more closely align fuel surcharge revenues with fuel expenses. In June and October 2018, ground fuel surcharge rates were raised by 0.50% and 0.25%, respectively, for all thresholds. In October 2018, Domestic air fuel surcharge rates were increased by 0.25% for all thresholds.
While fluctuations in fuel surcharge percentages can be significant from period to period, fuel surcharges represent one of the many individual components of our pricing structure that impact our overall revenue and yield. Additional components include the mix of services sold, the base price and extra service charges we obtain for these services and the level of pricing discounts offered.
Total domestic fuel surcharge revenue increased by $632 million in 2018 as a result of higher fuel surcharge rates caused by an increase in jet and diesel fuel prices, as well as an overall increase in package volume which drove increased delivery miles driven and aircraft block hours.
Operating Expenses
2018 compared to 2017
Operating expenses for the segment increased $3.492 billion in 2018 compared with 2017, which included $235 million of transformation strategy costs. Excluding the impact of transformation strategy costs, operating expenses for the segment increased $3.257 billion in 2018, primarily due to pickup and delivery costs (up $1.305 billion), the costs of operating our domestic integrated air and ground network (up $1.649 billion) and the costs of package sorting (up $639 million), offset by a reduction in indirect operating costs (down $336 million) for the year. These expenses were primarily due to higher volume, increased employee compensation costs, higher pension expense, higher fuel prices, a 6.2% increase in average daily block hours and expansion of our technology-enabled network.
The growth in pickup and delivery and network costs was impacted by several factors:
| |
• | We incurred higher employee compensation and benefit costs largely resulting from volume growth, which impacted an increase in average daily union labor hours (up 5.2%), scheduled union pay rate and benefit increases and growth in the overall size of the workforce due to facility expansions. Labor hour increases were also related to the continued expansion in Saturday operations. In addition, pension expense increased due to lower year-end discount rates used to measure the pension benefit obligation, driving higher service costs. |
| |
• | We incurred higher fuel expense in 2018 primarily due to higher fuel prices and increased volume which resulted in higher fuel usage (increase in aircraft block hours of 6.2% and package delivery miles driven of 4.4%), partially offset by alternative fuel tax credits. The manner in which we purchase fuel also influences the net impact of fuel on our results. The majority of our contracts for fuel purchases utilize index-based pricing formulas plus or minus a fixed locational/supplier differential. While many of the indices are aligned, each index may fluctuate at a different pace, driving variability in the prices paid for fuel. Because of this, our operating results may be affected should the market price of fuel suddenly change by a significant amount or change by amounts that do not result in an adjustment in our fuel surcharges, which can significantly affect our earnings either positively or negatively in the short-term. |
| |
• | We incurred higher costs associated with outside contract carriers, primarily due to volume growth (including SurePost), higher fuel surcharges passed to us by carriers and general rate increases. |
| |
• | In order to contain costs, we continually adjust our air and ground networks to better match higher volume levels. In addition, we continue to deploy and utilize technology to increase package sorting and delivery productivity. |
Total cost per piece increased 6.6% in 2018 compared with 2017, which includes transformation strategy costs of $235 million. The cost per piece increase was primarily impacted by the cost increases described previously. The increased expenses in 2018 were also driven by costs related to the improvement of our smart global logistics network, including additional aircraft leases to improve our air service reliability; costs related to the implementation of Saturday operations in additional markets, depreciation costs due to new facilities placed in service and higher pension expense. Costs were also negatively impacted by rising fuel prices offset by net changes in depreciation, primarily driven by changes in the useful lives of vehicles, plant equipment and building improvements.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
2017 compared to 2016
Operating expenses for the period increased $2.802 billion in 2017, primarily due to pickup and delivery costs (up $1.312 billion), the cost of operating our domestic integrated air and ground network (up $810 million), the costs of package sorting (up $746 million), offset by a reduction in indirect operating costs (down $66 million). These increases were driven primarily by overall volume growth in 2017. Adjusted operating expenses were impacted by several factors:
| |
• | We incurred higher employee compensation, largely resulting from volume growth, an increase in average daily union labor hours (up 6.5%), growth in the overall size of the workforce and an increase in wage rates. |
| |
• | Employee benefit costs increased, largely due to increased employee healthcare, partially offset by a decrease in pension expense and workers' compensation expense. |
| |
• | We incurred higher fuel expense in 2017 primarily due to higher fuel prices and increased volume, which resulted in higher fuel usage (increase in aircraft block hours of 7.0% and package delivery miles driven of 4.1%). |
| |
• | We incurred higher costs associated with outside contract carriers, primarily due to volume growth (including SurePost), higher fuel surcharges passed to us by carriers and general rate increases. |
Total cost per piece increased 4.3% in 2017 compared to 2016 and was primarily impacted by the cost increases described previously. The increased expenses in 2017 were also driven by capacity constraints due to volume surges in the fourth quarter of 2017, start-up costs of several investments underway to further expand and modernize our air and ground networks, and the costs of implementing Saturday operations. Costs were further impacted by rising fuel prices.
Operating Profit and Margin
2018 compared to 2017
Operating profit was negatively impacted primarily by planned costs related to our transformation strategy, higher pension expenses, one less operating day and the impact of bringing new facility and technology projects on-line. Operating profit decreased $660 million in 2018 compared with 2017 with operating margins decreasing 220 basis points to 8.4%. Excluding the impact of transformation strategy costs, operating profit decreased $425 million in 2018 compared to 2017 with operating margins decreasing 170 basis points. While benefits from fuel (fuel surcharge revenue increased at a faster pace than expense) and lower net depreciation expense had a positive impact on operating profit, higher purchased transportation costs due to volume growth, one less operating day and an increase in pension costs driven by lower discount rates weighed on profits. Additionally, operating profit was negatively impacted by costs related to continued investments in our smart global logistics network, including implementation of Saturday operations in additional markets. The benefits of these projects will not be fully realized until future periods.
2017 compared to 2016
Operating profit decreased $325 million in 2017 compared with 2016. Operating margin decreased 150 basis points to 10.6%. Operating profit was negatively impacted by an increase in continued investments in new buildings and new strategic investments, including deployment of Saturday operations. There was an adverse impact from higher purchased transportation costs due to volume surges in the fourth quarter of 2017 and from fuel as expense increased at a faster pace than fuel surcharge revenue.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
International Package Operations
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | % Change |
| 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2018/ 2017 | | 2017/ 2016 |
Average Daily Package Volume (in thousands): | | | | | | | | | |
Domestic | 1,723 |
| | 1,715 |
| | 1,635 |
| | 0.5 | % | | 4.9 | % |
Export | 1,482 |
| | 1,395 |
| | 1,211 |
| | 6.2 | % | | 15.2 | % |
Total Avg. Daily Package Volume | 3,205 |
| | 3,110 |
| | 2,846 |
| | 3.1 | % | | 9.3 | % |
Average Revenue Per Piece: | | | | | | | | | |
Domestic | $ | 6.59 |
| | $ | 6.07 |
| | $ | 5.85 |
| | 8.6 | % | | 3.8 | % |
Export | 29.27 |
| | 28.70 |
| | 30.34 |
| | 2.0 | % | | (5.4 | )% |
Total Avg. Revenue Per Piece | $ | 17.08 |
| | $ | 16.22 |
| | $ | 16.27 |
| | 5.3 | % | | (0.3 | )% |
Operating Days in Period | 253 |
| | 254 |
| | 255 |
| | | | |
Revenue (in millions): | | | | | | | | | |
Domestic | $ | 2,874 |
| | $ | 2,646 |
| | $ | 2,441 |
| | 8.6 | % | | 8.4 | % |
Export | 10,973 |
| | 10,170 |
| | 9,369 |
| | 7.9 | % | | 8.5 | % |
Cargo & Other | 595 |
| | 526 |
| | 536 |
| | 13.1 | % | | (1.9 | )% |
Total Revenue | $ | 14,442 |
| | $ | 13,342 |
| | $ | 12,346 |
| | 8.2 | % | | 8.1 | % |
Operating Expenses (in millions): | | | | | | | | | |
Operating Expenses | $ | 11,913 |
| | $ | 10,913 |
| | $ | 9,929 |
| | 9.2 | % | | 9.9 | % |
Transformation Strategy Costs | (76 | ) | | — |
| | — |
| | | | |
Adjusted Operating Expenses | $ | 11,837 |
| | $ | 10,913 |
| | $ | 9,929 |
| | 8.5 | % | | 9.9 | % |
Operating Profit (in millions) and Operating Margin: | | | | | | | | | |
Operating Profit | $ | 2,529 |
| | $ | 2,429 |
| | $ | 2,417 |
| | 4.1 | % | | 0.5 | % |
Adjusted Operating Profit | $ | 2,605 |
| | $ | 2,429 |
| | $ | 2,417 |
| | 7.2 | % | | 0.5 | % |
Operating Margin | 17.5 | % | | 18.2 | % | | 19.6 | % | | | | |
Adjusted Operating Margin | 18.0 | % | | 18.2 | % | | 19.6 | % | | | | |
Currency Translation Benefit / (Cost)—(in millions)*: | | | | | | | | | |
Revenue | | | | | | | $ | 147 |
| | $ | (325 | ) |
Operating Expenses | | | | | | | (157 | ) | | (50 | ) |
Operating Profit | | | | | | | $ | (10 | ) | | $ | (375 | ) |
|
| |
* | Net of currency hedging; amount represents the change compared to the prior year. |
Revenue
The change in overall revenue was impacted by the following factors for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, compared with the corresponding prior year periods:
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Volume | | Rates / Product Mix | | Fuel Surcharge | | Currency | | Total Revenue Change |
Revenue Change Drivers: | | | | | | | | | |
2018/ 2017 | 2.6 | % | | 1.8 | % | | 2.7 | % | | 1.1 | % | | 8.2 | % |
2017/ 2016 | 8.8 | % | | (0.7 | )% | | 2.6 | % | | (2.6 | )% | | 8.1 | % |
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Volume
2018 compared to 2017
Our overall average daily volume increased in 2018 largely due to strong demand from several sectors including retail, industrial manufacturing, high-tech and healthcare. Business-to-consumer shipments remained relatively flat for the year.
We continued to experience export volume growth in 2018. The growth was mainly driven by our European, U.S. and Asian operations, which experienced increases in volume on almost all major trade lanes. European export volume showed growth in the Europe-to-U.S. and intra-Europe trade lanes. Export volume into the U.S. grew in most major trade lanes, led by Europe and the Americas. Asia export volume growth was the most significant in the Asia-to- Americas and intra-Asia trade lanes. Export volume growth was strong across most major products, with a continued shift towards our premium express products, such as Worldwide Express and Transborder Express services.
Domestic volume increased slightly, primarily due to growth in Mexico, Canada and Netherlands, while domestic products in the Euro zone declined slightly.
2017 compared to 2016
Our overall average daily volume increased in 2017, largely due to continued strength in business-to-consumer volume, as well as strong demand from several sectors including retail, industrial manufacturing, high-tech and healthcare.
We continued to experience export volume growth in 2017. The growth was mainly driven by our European, Asian and U.S. operations, which experienced increases in volume to major trade lanes of the world. European export volume increased in 2017, with growth in all trade lanes. Asia export volume also increased in 2017, with particular strength in Asia-to-U.S., Asia-to-Americas and intra-Asia trade lanes. Export volume into the U.S. grew in all trade lanes, led by Europe and the Americas. Export volume growth was strong across all major products, with a continued shift towards our premium express products, such as Worldwide Express and Transborder Express services.
The increase in domestic volume in 2017 was primarily due to growth in Turkey, Germany, France, Italy and U.K.
Rates and Product Mix
2018 compared to 2017
Total average revenue per piece increased 5.3% in 2018, impacted by a 110 basis point increase from currency. Additionally, total revenue per piece was impacted by an increase in fuel surcharge revenue, as well as a shift in product mix, as the growth in higher yielding premium products continued to exceed overall growth.
On December 24, 2017, we implemented an average 4.9% net increase in base and accessorial rates for international shipments originating in the United States. Rate changes for shipments originating outside the U.S. are made throughout the year and vary by geographic market. On October 15, 2018, we implemented a 0.50% increase in International Air-Import fuel surcharge. Additionally, on December 5, 2018, we announced an average 4.9% net increase in base and accessorial rates for international shipping originating in the United States, which became effective on December 26, 2018.
Export revenue per piece increased 2.0% in 2018, impacted by a 60 basis point increase from currency, shift in product mix and higher fuel surcharge revenue.
Domestic revenue per piece increased 8.6% in 2018, impacted by a 320 basis point increase from currency and higher fuel surcharges.
2017 compared to 2016
Total average revenue per piece decreased 0.3% in 2017, impacted by a 250 basis point reduction from currency and a shift in product mix. These factors were partially offset by an increase in fuel surcharge rates as well as an increase in base rates.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
On December 26, 2016, we implemented an average 4.9% net increase in base and accessorial rates for international shipments originating in the United States. Rate changes for shipments originating outside the U.S. are made throughout the year and vary by geographic markets. Effective September 17, 2017, a peak surcharge was applied to any shipment originating from China or Hong Kong to the United States for certain service levels during the peak period. The surcharge was applied as a rate per pound based upon the billable weight of the shipment. Additionally, on October 25, 2017, we announced an average 4.9% net increase in base and accessorial rates for international shipping originating in the United States; changes became effective on December 24, 2017.
Export revenue per piece decreased 5.4% in 2017, impacted by a 320 basis point reduction from currency and product mix. This was partially offset by an increase in fuel surcharges, an increase in base rates and strong volume growth in premium products.
Domestic revenue per piece increased 3.8% in 2017, impacted by a 50 basis point increase from currency, increases in base rates and higher fuel surcharges.
Fuel Surcharges
We maintain fuel surcharges on our international air and ground services. The fuel surcharges for international air products originating inside or outside the United States are largely indexed to the DOE's Gulf Coast spot price for a gallon of kerosene-type jet fuel, while the fuel surcharges for ground products originating outside the United States are indexed to fuel prices in the international region or country where the shipment takes place.
While fluctuations in fuel surcharge percentages can be significant from period to period, fuel surcharges represent one of the many individual components of our pricing structure that impact our overall revenue and yield. Additional components include the mix of services sold, the base price and extra service charges we obtain for these services and the level of pricing discounts offered.
Total international fuel surcharge revenue increased by $382 million in 2018, primarily due to volume increases and higher fuel prices. Total international fuel surcharge revenue increased by $325 million in 2017, primarily due to volume increase, higher fuel prices and pricing changes made to base freight rates and to the fuel surcharge indices from a two month lag to a two week lag.
Operating Expenses
2018 compared to 2017
Overall operating expenses increased by $1.0 billion, which included a $76 million increase from transformation strategy costs. Excluding the impact of the transformation strategy costs, adjusted operating expenses for the segment increased $924 million in 2018 primarily due to increased volumes, currency fluctuations and higher fuel costs driven by increased usage and higher prices.
In addition to variability in usage and fuel prices, the manner in which we purchase fuel also influences the net impact of fuel on our results. The majority of our contracts for fuel purchases utilize index-based pricing formulas plus or minus a fixed locational/supplier differential. While many of the indices are aligned, each index may fluctuate at a different pace, driving variability in the prices paid for fuel. Because of this, our operating results may be affected should the market price of fuel suddenly change by a significant amount or change by amounts that do not result in an adjustment in our fuel surcharges, which can affect our earnings either positively or negatively in the short-term.
Operating expenses were impacted by changes in the cost of operating our international integrated air and ground network, which increased $546 million, as well as pickup and delivery costs, which increased $287 million. The increase in network costs was largely driven by volume growth in the majority of our products and higher fuel costs due to increased prices and usage. Additionally, the increase in pickup and delivery costs is due to increased volume. Operating expenses were also impacted by a $91 million increase in indirect overhead and package sorting costs and other costs.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
2017 compared to 2016
Overall operating expenses increased by $984 million, primarily due to increased volumes, higher fuel usage and currency fluctuations.
Operating expenses were impacted by changes in the cost of operating our international integrated air and ground network, which increased $424 million, as well as pickup and delivery costs, which increased $287 million. The increase in network costs was largely driven by volume growth in our Express products, which drove a 3.0% increase in aircraft block hours and higher fuel usage. Additionally, the increase in pickup and delivery costs is due to increased volume. Operating expenses were also impacted in 2017 by a $273 million increase in indirect overhead and package sorting costs and other costs.
Operating Profit and Margin
2018 compared to 2017
Operating profit increased $100 million (4.1%) in 2018 compared with 2017, including $76 million in transformation strategy costs. Operating margin decreased 70 basis points to 17.5%. Adjusted operating profit without transformation strategy costs increased by $176 million (7.2%) in 2018, while the adjusted operating margin decreased 20 basis points to 18.0%. Included in adjusted operating profit is a $10 million decrease due to currency. Currency adjusted margin was 18.3% up from 18.2% in the prior year.
2017 compared to 2016
Operating profit increased $12 million in 2017 compared with 2016. Operating margin increased 140 basis points to 18.2%. Operating margin was affected by negative currency exchange movements due to volatility of both hedged and unhedged currencies. Included in adjusted operating profit is a $375 million decrease due to currency.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Supply Chain & Freight Operations
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | % Change |
| 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2018/ 2017 | | 2017/ 2016 |
Freight LTL Statistics: | | | | | | | | | |
Revenue (in millions) | $ | 2,706 |
| | $ | 2,598 |
| | $ | 2,385 |
| | 4.2 | % | | 8.9 | % |
Revenue Per Hundredweight | $ | 25.52 |
| | $ | 24.08 |
| | $ | 23.44 |
| | 6.0 | % | | 2.7 | % |
Shipments (in thousands) | 9,720 |
| | 10,210 |
| | 9,961 |
| | (4.8 | )% | | 2.5 | % |
Shipments Per Day (in thousands) | 38.4 |
| | 40.5 |
| | 39.4 |
| | (5.2 | )% | | 2.8 | % |
Gross Weight Hauled (in millions of lbs) | 10,605 |
| | 10,788 |
| | 10,174 |
| | (1.7 | )% | | 6.0 | % |
Weight Per Shipment (in lbs) | 1,091 |
| | 1,057 |
| | 1,021 |
| | 3.2 | % | | 3.5 | % |
Operating Days in Period | 253 |
| | 252 |
| | 253 |
| | | | |
Revenue (in millions): | | | | | | | | | |
Forwarding | 6,580 |
| | 5,674 |
| | 4,873 |
| | 16.0 | % | | 16.4 | % |
Logistics | 3,234 |
| | 3,017 |
| | 2,644 |
| | 7.2 | % | | 14.1 | % |
Freight | 3,218 |
| | 3,000 |
| | 2,737 |
| | 7.3 | % | | 9.6 | % |
Other | 794 |
| | 791 |
| | 726 |
| | 0.4 | % | | 9.0 | % |
Total Revenue | $ | 13,826 |
| | $ | 12,482 |
| | $ | 10,980 |
| | 10.8 | % | | 13.7 | % |
Operating Expenses (in millions): | | | | | | | | | |
Operating Expenses | $ | 12,974 |
| | $ | 11,685 |
| | $ | 10,337 |
| | 11.0 | % | | 13.0 | % |
Transformation Strategy Costs | (49 | ) | | — |
| | — |
| | | | |
Adjusted Operating Expenses | $ | 12,925 |
| | $ | 11,685 |
| | $ | 10,337 |
| | 10.6 | % | | 13.0 | % |
Operating Profit (in millions) and Operating Margins: | | | | | | | | | |
Operating Profit | $ | 852 |
| | $ | 797 |
| | $ | 643 |
| | 6.9 | % | | 24.0 | % |
Adjusted Operating Profit | $ | 901 |
| | $ | 797 |
| | $ | 643 |
| | 13.0 | % | | 24.0 | % |
Operating Margin | 6.2 | % | | 6.4 | % | | 5.9 | % | | | | |
Adjusted Operating Margin | 6.5 | % | | 6.4 | % | | 5.9 | % | | | | |
Currency Translation Benefit / (Cost)—(in millions)*: | | | | | | | | | |
Revenue | | | | | | | $ | 39 |
| | $ | 10 |
|
Operating Expenses | | | | | | | (44 | ) | | (12 | ) |
Operating Profit | | | | | | | $ | (5 | ) | | $ | (2 | ) |
|
| |
* | Amount represents the change compared to the prior year. |
In December 2016, we acquired Marken, a global provider of supply chain solutions to the life sciences industry and leader in clinical trials, material storage and distribution. Marken's financial results are included in the above table within the Logistics unit from the date of the acquisition and have impacted the year-over-year comparability of revenue, operating expenses and operating profit for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Revenue
2018 compared to 2017
Total revenue for the Supply Chain & Freight segment increased $1.344 billion in 2018 compared to 2017.
Forwarding revenue increased $906 million in 2018 compared with 2017, primarily due to increased truckload brokerage volume as well as tonnage increases in our international air freight and ocean freight forwarding businesses. Sell price improvements in our international air freight forwarding business also contributed to the increase in revenue. Revenue in our truckload brokerage business was driven by robust demand and tight capacity.
Logistics revenue increased by $217 million in 2018 compared with 2017, as we experienced growth in the healthcare, aerospace, retail and manufacturing sectors.
UPS Freight revenue increased $218 million in 2018 compared with 2017, despite fourth-quarter volume declines as a result of the contract ratification process wherein we took actions to clear our LTL network. Revenue was driven by increases in average weight per shipment from improved customer mix due to middle market growth. LTL revenue per hundredweight increased 6.0% as LTL base rate increases for certain shipments in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, averaging 5.9%, took effect March 26, 2018. Fuel surcharge revenue also increased $75 million due to changes in diesel fuel prices.
2017 compared to 2016
Total revenue for the Supply Chain & Freight segment increased $1.502 billion in 2017 compared to 2016.
Forwarding revenue increased $801 million in 2017 compared with 2016, primarily due to increased truckload brokerage volume movement and tonnage increases in our international air freight and North American air freight forwarding businesses. The volume and tonnage increases were driven by improving overall market demand.
Logistics revenue increased $373 million in 2017 due to growth in mail services, healthcare, retail and aerospace solutions, offset by declines among our high tech customers. Additionally, the Marken acquisition on December 21, 2016 contributed to the increase in revenue. Revenue was positively impacted by currency exchange rate movements.
UPS Freight revenue increased $263 million in 2017 compared to 2016, driven by increases in shipments and weight per shipment. These increases were impacted by an overall improvement in market demand and customer mix. LTL revenue per hundredweight increased slightly as LTL base rate increases, averaging 4.9%, took effect September 19, 2016. Additionally, effective June 26, 2017, LTL base rates increased by an additional 4.9% for certain shipments in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Fuel surcharge revenue also increased $70 million due to changes in overall LTL shipment volume and diesel fuel prices.
Revenue for the other businesses within Supply Chain & Freight increased $65 million in 2017 due to revenue growth at UPS Capital and UPS Customer Solutions, as well as service contracts with the U.S. Postal Service.
Operating Expenses
2018 compared to 2017
Total operating expenses for the Supply Chain & Freight segment increased $1.289 billion in 2018 compared to 2017, which includes $49 million of costs related to our transformation strategy.
Forwarding operating expenses increased $845 million in 2018 compared with 2017, largely due to increased purchased transportation expenses, transformation strategy costs, and a $20 million favorable legal settlement in 2017. Excluding $16 million in costs related to our transformation strategy, Forwarding operating expenses increased $829 million. Purchased transportation expense increased $720 million compared to 2017 primarily due to increased truckload brokerage volume and higher tonnage in our international air freight forwarding business as well as the resulting costs passed to us from outside contract carriers.
Logistics operating expenses increased $205 million in 2018 compared with 2017. Excluding $22 million in costs related to our transformation strategy, Logistics operating expenses increased $183 million. The increases were driven by costs associated with retail facility expansions, increased rates for mail services and strategic information technology investments.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
UPS Freight operating expenses increased $258 million in 2018 compared with 2017. Excluding $6 million in costs related to our transformation strategy, UPS Freight operating expenses increased $252 million. Total cost per LTL shipment increased 11.4% in 2018 compared to 2017. The operating expenses increased largely due to costs associated with operating our linehaul network ($85 million) and increases in pickup and delivery costs ($60 million). The linehaul network and pickup and delivery costs were driven by higher fuel prices and expense for outside transportation carriers, including fuel surcharges passed on to us by these outside carriers.
2017 compared to 2016
Total operating expenses for the Supply Chain & Freight segment increased $1.348 billion in 2017 compared to 2016.
Forwarding operating expenses increased $752 million, largely due to increased purchased transportation expenses. This was offset by operating efficiencies and the receipt of a $20 million favorable legal settlement in the second quarter of 2017. Purchased transportation expense increased by $770 million compared to 2016 due to increased truckload brokerage movements and the resulting increased fuel surcharges passed to us from outside transportation providers. Increased tonnage and third-party air carrier procurement rates in our North American and international air freight forwarding businesses, also contributed to increased purchased transportation expenses.
Logistics operating expenses increased $308 million in 2017, primarily due to the acquisition of Marken in 2016 and increased purchased transportation costs driven by increased volume and rates for mail services.
UPS Freight operating expenses increased $256 million in 2017 compared with 2016. The increase in operating expense was largely due to costs associated with operating our linehaul network ($126 million) and increases in pickup and delivery costs ($99 million). The network costs and pickup and delivery expenses were driven by higher fuel cost and higher expense for outside transportation carriers, largely due to LTL volume growth and fuel surcharges passed to us by outside carriers. Total cost per LTL shipment increased 5.7% in 2017 compared to 2016. Operating expenses related to our casualty self-insurance reserves also increased in 2017 compared with 2016.
Other expenses for the other businesses within Supply Chain & Freight increased $32 million in 2017 compared with 2016 primarily due to UPS Capital, UPS Customer Solutions and service contracts with the U.S. Postal Service, slightly offset by decreases in The UPS Store.
Operating Profit and Margin
2018 compared to 2017
Total operating profit for the Supply Chain & Freight segment increased $55 million in 2018 compared to 2017, which includes a $49 million impact related to transformation strategy costs. Excluding transformation strategy costs, operating profit increased $104 million. Operating margin decreased 20 basis points to 6.2%, while the adjusted operating margin increased 10 basis points to 6.5%.
Operating profit for the Forwarding unit increased $61 million in 2018 compared with 2017. Excluding the $16 million impact related to transformation strategy costs, operating profit increased $77 million. Operating profit and margins increased mainly due to tonnage increases in our international air freight and ocean freight forwarding business as well as pricing improvements. Additionally, our truckload brokerage business grew due to robust demand and tight capacity.
Operating profit for the Logistics unit increased $12 million in 2018 compared with 2017. Excluding the $22 million impact related to transformation strategy costs, operating profit increased $34 million. Operating profit and margins increased due to higher demand in the healthcare, aerospace, retail and manufacturing sectors.
UPS Freight operating profit decreased $40 million in 2018 compared with 2017. Excluding the $6 million impact related to transformation strategy costs, operating profit decreased $34 million. Operating profit and margins decreased as volume declined due to labor uncertainties around the Teamsters contract ratification, partially offsetting the increased LTL revenue per hundredweight realized during the year. Actions to clear our LTL network as a result of the contract ratification process reduced operating profit by approximately $60 million.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The combined operating profit for all of our other businesses within Supply Chain & Freight increased $22 million in 2018, primarily due to higher operating profit at UPS Capital, UPS Customer Solutions and The UPS Store, as well as service contracts with the U.S. Postal Service. Excluding the $5 million impact related to transformation strategy costs, operating profit increased $27 million.
2017 compared to 2016
Total operating profit for the Supply Chain & Freight segment increased $154 million in 2017 compared with 2016.
Operating profit for the Forwarding unit increased $49 million in 2017 compared with 2016. Operating profit and margins for the North American air freight business increased in 2017 due to an increase in volume, slightly offset by higher transportation expenses. Operating profit and margins in our international air freight forwarding business increased due to volume increases and higher revenue per kilo, slightly offset by higher rates at which we procure capacity from third-party air carriers.
Operating profit for the Logistics unit increased $65 million in 2017 compared to 2016 due to strong performance in the U.S. as well as within our mail services. Additionally, the Marken acquisition in 2016 contributed to the increase in operating profit.
UPS Freight operating profit increased $7 million in 2017 compared with 2016, as increased volume and prices were partially offset by increased purchased transportation costs.
The combined operating profit for all of our other businesses in this segment increased $33 million in 2017, primarily due to higher operating profit at UPS Capital, UPS Customer Solutions and The UPS Store, as well as service contracts with the U.S. Postal Service.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Consolidated Operating Expenses
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Year Ended December 31, | | % Change |
| 2018 | | 2017 | | 2016 | | 2018/ 2017 | | 2017/ 2016 |
Operating Expenses (in millions): | | | | | | | | | |
Compensation and Benefits: | $ | 37,235 |
| | $ | 34,577 |
| | $ | 32,534 |
| | 7.7 | % | | 6.3 | % |
Transformation Strategy Costs | (262 | ) | | — |
| | — |
| | | | |
Adjusted Compensation and Benefits | 36,973 |
| | 34,577 |
| | 32,534 |
| | 6.9 | % | | 6.3 | % |
| | | | | | | | | |
Repairs and Maintenance | 1,732 |
| | 1,601 |
| | 1,542 |
| | 8.2 | % | | 3.8 | % |
Depreciation and Amortization | 2,207 |
| | 2,282 |
| | 2,224 |
| | (3.3 | )% | | 2.6 | % |
Purchased Transportation | 13,409 |
| | 11,696 |
| | 9,848 |
| | 14.6 | % | | 18.8 | % |
Fuel | 3,427 |
| | 2,690 |
| | 2,118 |
| | 27.4 | % | | 27.0 | % |
Other Occupancy | 1,362 |
| | 1,155 |
| | 1,037 |
| | 17.9 | % | | 11.4 | % |
Other Expenses | 5,465 |
| | 5,055 |
| | 4,619 |
| | 8.1 | % | | 9.4 | % |
Total Other Expenses | 27,602 |
| | 24,479 |
| | 21,388 |
| | 12.8 | % | | 14.5 | % |
Other Transformation Strategy Costs | (98 | ) | | — |
| | — |
| | | | |
Adjusted Total Other Expenses | $ | 27,504 |
| | $ | 24,479 |
| | $ | 21,388 |
| | 12.4 | % | | 14.5 | % |
| | | | | | | | | |
Total Operating Expenses | $ | 64,837 |
| | $ | 59,056 |
| | $ | 53,922 |
| | 9.8 | % | | 9.5 | % |
Adjusted Total Operating Expenses | $ | 64,477 |
| | $ | 59,056 |
| | $ | 53,922 |
| | 9.2 | % | | 9.5 | % |
| | | | | | | | | |
Currency Translation Cost / (Benefit)* | | | | | | | $ | 201 |
| | $ | 62 |
|
|
| |
* | Amount represents the change compared to the prior year. |
Compensation and Benefits
2018 compared to 2017
Total compensation and benefits increased $2.658 billion in 2018 compared to 2017. Excluding the impact of transformation strategy costs of $262 million discussed in note 16 to the audited consolidated financial statements, adjusted compensation and benefits expense increased $2.396 billion in 2018.
Employee payroll costs increased $1.459 billion in 2018 compared with 2017, largely due to higher U.S. domestic hourly and management compensation costs. Total compensation costs increased 6.9%, while consolidated average daily volume growth was 3.2%. U.S. domestic compensation costs for hourly employees increased largely due to higher volume growth, contractual union wage increases, headcount increases, wage rate adjustments for part time workers and a 5.2% increase in average daily union labor hours. Compensation costs for management employees increased primarily due to merit salary increases and growth in the overall size of the workforce.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Benefits expense increased $1.199 billion in 2018 compared to 2017. Excluding the impact of transformation strategy costs of $262 million, benefits costs increased $937 million in 2018 compared to 2017, primarily due to the following factors:
| |
• | Health and welfare costs increased $341 million in 2018 compared to 2017, largely due to increased contributions to multiemployer plans resulting from contractual contribution rate increases and an overall increase in the size of the workforce. |
| |
• | Pension and retirement benefits expense increased $312 million in 2018 compared to 2017 primarily due to increased expense in UPS sponsored pension plans due to lower discount rates and additional expenses related to multiemployer plan contributions, which were impacted by contractual contribution rate increases and an overall increase in the size of the workforce. These increases were partially offset by lower Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation premiums due to prior voluntary pension contributions, as well as the amendment of the UPS Retirement Plan in the prior year. |
| |
• | Vacation, holiday, excused absence, payroll tax and other expenses increased $244 million in 2018 due to salary increases and growth in the overall size of the workforce. |
| |
• | Workers' compensation expense increased $40 million in 2018 compared to 2017 as we experienced less favorable actuarial adjustments. |
2017 compared to 2016
Total compensation and benefits increased $2.043 billion in 2017 compared to 2016.
Employee payroll costs increased $1.273 billion in 2017 compared with 2016, largely due to higher U.S. domestic hourly and management compensation costs. Total compensation costs increased 6.4%, while consolidated average daily volume growth was 5.0%. U.S. domestic compensation costs for hourly employees increased largely due to fourth quarter 2017 seasonal staffing increases resulting from 5.4% volume growth, contractual union wage increases, headcount increases, wage rate adjustments for part time workers and a 6.5% increase in average daily union labor hours. Compensation costs for management employees increased primarily due to merit salary increases and growth in the overall size of the workforce.
Benefits expense increased $770 million in 2017 compared to 2016, primarily due to the following factors:
| |
• | Pension costs increased $342 million in 2017 compared to 2016, primarily due to increased expense in UPS sponsored pension plans due to lower discount rates and additional expenses related to multiemployer plan contributions, which were impacted by contractual contribution rate increases and an overall increase in the size of the workforce. |
| |
• | Health and welfare costs increased $240 million in 2017, largely due to increased contributions to multiemployer plans resulting from contractual contribution rate increases and an overall increase in the size of the workforce. |
| |
• | Vacation, holiday, excused absence, payroll tax and other expenses increased $251 million in 2017 due to salary increases and growth in the overall size of the workforce. |
| |
• | Workers' compensation expense decreased $63 million in 2017 as we experienced more favorable actuarial adjustments. This decrease was partially offset by increases in work hours, medical trends and wage increases. Insurance reserves are established for estimates of the loss that we will ultimately incur on reported workers' compensation claims, as well as estimates of claims that have been incurred but not reported, and take into account a number of factors, including our history of claim losses, payroll growth and the impact of safety improvement initiatives. |
Repairs and Maintenance
2018 compared to 2017
The $131 million increase in repairs and maintenance expense in 2018 was primarily due to maintenance of our transportation equipment and aircraft and routine repairs to buildings and facilities. Building expansions and additions throughout 2018 also contributed to increases in expense.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
2017 compared to 2016
The $59 million increase in repairs and maintenance expense in 2017 was primarily due to repairs and maintenance of our transportation equipment resulting from growth in the size of our vehicle fleet and routine repairs to buildings and facilities.
Depreciation and Amortization
2018 compared to 2017
We evaluate the useful lives of all our property, plant and equipment based on our usage, maintenance and replacement policies, and taking into account physical and economic factors that may affect the useful lives of the assets. Refer to note 1 in our consolidated financial statements for further description of our policy.
Total depreciation and amortization expense decreased $75 million in 2018 compared with 2017. The principal components of this change included:
| |
• | An increase in expense of $257 million arising from capital investments in several large facilities and other new projects coming into service. This had the effect of decreasing net income by $205 million or $0.24 per share on a basic and diluted basis in 2018; and |
| |
• | A decrease in expense of $286 million resulting from prospective revisions to our estimates of useful lives for building improvements, vehicles and plant equipment as part of our ongoing investment in transformation. This had the effect of increasing net income by $228 million or $0.26 per share on a basic and diluted basis. |
Combining the impact of the revisions to the estimated useful lives with the impact of the increased capital investments noted above resulted in a net decrease of $29 million to depreciation expense and an increase to net income of $23 million or $0.03 per share on both a basic and diluted basis in 2018.
The changes to the estimated useful lives described above are expected to decrease 2019 depreciation and amortization expense by approximately $335 million as compared to 2018. However, this will be largely offset by approximately $330 million of additional depreciation expense related to the addition of numerous facility automation and capacity expansion projects, which are part of our multi-year transformation strategy.
2017 compared to 2016
Depreciation and amortization expense increased $58 million in 2017 compared with 2016, primarily due to the following factors: (1) depreciation expense on vehicles increased due to an overall increase in the size of our vehicle fleet in our U.S. Domestic Package and UPS Freight operations, (2) depreciation expense for buildings and facilities increased due to the opening of new facilities and facility automation and capacity expansion projects and (3) amortization expense of intangible assets increased in conjunction with the Marken acquisition. These factors were largely offset by a decrease in amortization expense related to longer lived internally developed capitalized software.
Purchased Transportation
2018 compared to 2017
The $1.713 billion increase in purchased transportation expense charged to us by third-party air, rail, ocean and truck carriers in 2018 compared with 2017 was primarily driven by the following factors:
| |
• | Expense for our Forwarding and Logistics business increased $824 million in 2018, primarily due to increased truckload brokerage freight loads per day; increased tonnage in our international air freight forwarding business, and increased volume and rates for mail services. Additionally, expenses increased due to additional fuel surcharges passed onto us from outside contract carriers. |
| |
• | U.S. Domestic Package expense increased $326 million in 2018, primarily due to increased volume, general rate increases and higher fuel surcharges passed to us from outside contract carriers. |
| |
• | International Package expense increased $180 million in 2018, primarily due to the increased usage of third-party carriers to handle higher transborder volume and an unfavorable impact from currency exchange rate movements. |
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
| |
• | UPS Freight expense increased $153 million in 2018, due to an increase in our ground freight pricing product, LTL tonnage and higher fuel surcharges passed to us from outside transportation providers, partially offset by declines in our LTL shipments due to fourth quarter labor uncertainties around the Teamsters contract ratification. |
| |
• | We incurred additional purchased transportation expense of $230 million in 2018 compared to 2017, which was primarily due to leasing additional aircraft to handle increases in air volume and higher jet fuel surcharges associated with aircraft charters. |
2017 compared to 2016
The $1.848 billion increase in purchased transportation expense charged to us by third-party air, rail, ocean and truck carriers in 2017 compared with 2016 was primarily driven by the following factors:
| |
• | Expense for our Forwarding and Logistics business increased $937 million in 2017, primarily due to increased truckload brokerage freight loads per day and the resulting increased fuel surcharges passed to us from outside transportation providers; increased volume and rates for mail services; and increased tonnage in our North American and international air freight forwarding businesses. Additionally, purchased transportation expense increased due to the acquisition of Marken in December 2016. |
| |
• | U.S. Domestic Package expense increased $421 million in 2017, primarily due to increased volume (including SurePost), higher rates and higher fuel surcharges passed to us from outside contract carriers. |
| |
• | International Package expense increased $270 million in 2017, primarily due to the increased usage of third-party carriers (due to higher volume); higher fuel surcharges passed to us from outside transportation providers and an unfavorable impact of currency exchange rate movements. |
| |
• | UPS Freight expense increased $163 million in 2017, due to an increase in LTL shipments and higher fuel surcharges passed to us from outside transportation providers. |
Fuel
2018 compared to 2017
Fuel expense increased $737 million in 2018 as compared to 2017. The increase in fuel expense in 2018 was primarily due to higher jet fuel, diesel and unleaded gasoline prices and higher consumption due to higher total aircraft block hours and increased Domestic Package delivery miles driven as a result of overall higher volume. These increases were partially offset by the benefit of alternative fuel costs.
The manner in which we purchase fuel also influences the net impact of fuel on our results. The majority of our contracts for fuel purchases utilize index-based pricing formulas plus or minus a fixed locational/supplier differential. While many of the indices are aligned, each index may fluctuate at a different pace, driving variability in the prices paid for fuel. Because of this, our operating results may be affected should the market price of fuel suddenly change by a significant amount or change by amounts that do not result in an adjustment in our fuel surcharges, which can significantly affect our earnings either positively or negatively in the short-term.
2017 compared to 2016
The $572 million increase in fuel expense in 2017 as compared to 2016 was primarily due to higher jet fuel, diesel and unleaded gasoline prices, which increased fuel expense by $419 million. Additionally, increased alternative fuel costs and fuel consumption increased expense by $170 million primarily due to volume increases, which resulted in higher total aircraft block hours and Domestic Package delivery miles driven. These increases were partially offset by increased fuel efficiency.
Other Occupancy
2018 compared to 2017
The $207 million increase in other occupancy expense in 2018 compared to 2017 was largely due to higher facility rent expense, property tax expense and utility expenses. These increases were primarily driven by an increase in the number of operating facilities compared to 2017.
UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
2017 compared to 2016
The $118 million increase in other occupancy expense in 2017 compared to 2016 was largely due to higher facility rent expense driven by new facilities, as well as higher utilities and property taxes at our operating facilities.
Other Expenses
2018 compared to 2017
The $410 million increase in other expenses in 2018 compared to 2017 was primarily attributable to increases in transportation equipment rental, outside professional service costs, security protection, non-income based state and local taxes, and data processing costs. Additionally, costs of $86 million related to our transformation strategy contributed to the increase in 2018 when compared to 2017.
2017 compared to 2016
The $436 million increase in other expenses in 2017 compared to 2016 was caused by (1) an auto liability insurance expense increase of $75 million due to miles driven, medical trend rates and severity experience trends and (2) transportation equipment rental increase of $60 million driven by growth in package volume.
The remaining $280 million increase is comprised of increases in several other expense categories, including outside professional services, security protection, computer and plant supplies and air cargo handling, partially offset by a decrease in advertising expense.
Other Income and (Expense)
The following table sets forth investment income (expense) and other and interest expense for the years ended
