UPS Employees Received a Unique Gift on the 100th Anniversary

UPS, formally know as United Parcel Service, employees received a unique gift today as they celebrated 100 years of service. In the Southwest Center located in Stafford, Texas, cake and juice was served and each employee was given a metal bar that was pressed from the airframe of N907UP, the first aircraft in the UPS fleet.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary, UPS melted down the air frame of N907UP and made 3-inch bars to give to their employees. Each bar is enclosed in plastic and embedded into a keepsake card that states the quote "In attempting to answer questions of the future it is sometimes well to take our cue from the past." That was made by Jim Casey, UPS Founder, 1947. These bars weighed roughly 2 ounces while in the case. This is a very unique and original item to give employees but I found at least one listed on eBay already.

In 1981, UPS purchased their first aircraft for use in air delivery service. While this was not something that happened overnight, UPS began operations from Louisville, KY air hub in 1982 and in 1985 they started international air service between U.S. and six European countries. In this gift it is printed "One hundred years ago and a $100 loan. From a basement business in Seattle, Washington, to a global transportation and supply chain partner. The idea of one person is now a culture shared by more than 420,000 UPSers." Now that is a lot of employees! While this was not the most exciting gift for employees, you have to give UPS credit for original thinking. My personal preference would have been a piece of Dale Jarrett's NASCAR car or better yet the NASCAR truck.

I spoke to one UPS employee who said that this is a much better gift than they have had in the past. This employee has been with UPS for 24 years and has received key rings, coffee mugs, money clip, pins that attach to your lapel and writing pens with "floating" UPS trucks in them. In addition to the die cast truck that was given to him on the 90th anniversary of UPS, this gift does make him much happier than the ones in the past.

We can not say that UPS is not trying to include their 420,000 employees in a personal way. For a company that large that can not be an easy thing to control but I am sure they would like stock options as a gift much more.