The Great International Package Delivery Race, 2004

The Idea

How do packages actually get from sender to consignee? Each carrier has its own freight network through which a package travels and the experience of each package depends on the construction of the network.

For fun, each year we race and track packages from The Logistics Institute, Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA (USA) to sites around the world via different international parcel carriers (UPS, Fedex, DHL). In 2004 we sent packages to:

Lome, Togo (off the west coast of Africa)
Haifa, Israel
Bangalore, India

The start

We phoned each of the carriers at 1100h on 05 April and asked them to come pick up packages:

Fedex pickup: 05 April 1345h

DHL pickup: 05 April 1540h

UPS pickup: 05 April 1600h

11:00AM 05 April: We phoned each of UPS, FedEx, and DHL and asked them to pick up packages at the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Tech. We had the shipping forms for UPS and Fedex ready in advance as they are widely available. We did not have shipping forms for DHL.
11:05AM: DHL arrived almost immediately, as the driver was in the area. Unfortunately, we did not have DHL shipping forms ready and had to wait for them to be faxed from DHL. The driver left and promised to return soon.
1:45PM: Fedex picked up its packages.
3:40PM: DHL returned, picked up its packages.
4PM: UPS picked up its packages during its regularly scheduled stop. When we first phoned in the morning we were told that shipping to India required a special certificate from the Embassy of India because the package contained apparel (a GT sweatshirt), and certain dyes require advance approval. We sent this package via DHL instead.

All shipments required airbills and commercial invoices describing the contents.

The results

Fedex clearly won and DHL came in second. UPS finished far behind - in fact, as of 12 April none of their packages had been delivered. Their representative declined to take one package and both of their other packages were delayed by processing errors, rerouting, and flight delays. The package to Lome was finally delivered on 22 June after crossing the Atlantic Ocean 9 times!

Results
Destination	Carrier	Cost	Delivery	Route	Comments
Lome, Togo	DHL	USD169.07	08 April 0806h	Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York, Brussels, Lagos, Lome (details)
	Fedex	USD162.91	09 April 1056h	Atlanta, Indianapolis, Paris, Abidjan, Lome (details)	Fewer stops than DHL, but slower
	UPS	???	22 June 1705h	Atlanta, Louisville, Philadelphia, Koeln (Cologne), Paris, Johannesburg,... (details)	Finally delivered after crossing the Atlantic Ocean 9 times. Apparently a UPS "keying error" sent the package repeatedly to South Africa.

Haifa, Israel	Fedex	USD90.17	07 April 1540h	Atlanta, Memphis, Peta Tiqwa, Haifa (details)	Fewest stops; direct flight from US to Israel
	DHL	USD134.44	08 April 1408h	Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York, Tel Aviv, Haifa (details)	Direct flight from US to Israel
	UPS	???	13 April 1153h	Atlanta, Louisville, Philadelphia, Koeln (Cologne), Tel Aviv, Koeln, Istanbul, Tel Aviv, Haifa - note misshipment! (details)	Many stops even if handled correctly

Bangalore, India	Fedex	USD94.01	09 April 1215h	Atlanta, Memphis, Paris, Mumbai (Bombay), Bangalore (details)
	DHL	???	12 April 1230h	Atlanta, Cincinnati, London, Delhi, Bangalore (details)	Delayed because the local office closed for the Christian holiday "Good Friday" (09 April)
	UPS	???	NA	NA	Declined to take package

The UPS prices were not immediately available. We expect to post more details of the deliveries, possibly including photos, soon.

The routes

Figure 1: The DHL routes from Atlanta to Lome, Haifa, and Bangalore.

Each package went through a sortation facility in the midwestern US: UPS uses Louisville, KY; Fedex uses Indianapolis, IN or Memphis, TN; DHL uses Cincinnati, OH.

Past races

You can read about previous races here:

2003

Next event

We welcome suggestions for subsequent competitions, where we will be sending a set of GT baseball caps, t-shirts, etc. somewhere in the world. Send us an address, preferably with accompanying telephone number and email address, and we will race the hats by vying package couriers to your parents, nephews, nieces, etc. All that we need is sufficient address and a promise to document the delivery.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Jennifer Harris, Anita Race, and Cheryl Wilkerson for sending off the packages; and thanks to the recipients for documenting their arrival!