SonicAir, Inc. [1] was an integrated logistics service company, providing Logistics Planning; Strategic Stocking, Returns Management, SmartCourier Field Repair, Depot Repair, Parts Distribution, and Transportation Services to its customers. Acquired by UPS [2] in 1995, SonicAir was eventually absorbed into the UPS Logistics Group.
Sonic Air Courier Inc. was originally founded by Ray Thurston in 1976 to provide same-day and off-hour shipment of time-critical parcels. The company name would later combine into one word, SonicAir. [3]
Thurston's beginnings in the transportation industry go back to the age of thirteen when he worked as a bicycle messenger after school and summers for his father's messenger service. One year after finishing college, Ray's father died, and he assumed control of the business at twenty-three. After several failed attempts to purchase the business from his stepmother, Ray went on to form a new company, SonicAir Couriers, a same-day courier servicing the entire United States. Ray evolved SonicAir by adding warehousing, distribution, supply chain software and consulting to their services.
Sonic Air Courier Inc., acquired Air Couriers International Inc. (ACI) in May 1984. SonicAir at the time was a 7 million dollar company acquiring a 19 million dollar company there were many challenges ahead and some difficult times. [4] On time performance was only at 85%, and the company had experienced significant financial losses. SonicAir committed itself to the principles of quality improvement and management to turn the company around. The turnaround was so successful that SonicAir was named a "Great Comeback" by Success magazine in August 1990 and "Turnaround of the Year" in 1990 by Venture Capital Magazine.
SonicAir developed the Field Support Bank in 1984 as the company strategically located warehousing to complement its existing same-day service. The company continued to add services as the needs of its customers dictated.
SonicAir's Field Support Bank business continued to grow [5] with great success for the next ten years attracting the attention of both the United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (FedEx).
In 1995, UPS acquired SonicAir. [6] [7] It was initially operated as an independently run UPS Logistics Group Company [8] providing worldwide service parts logistics planning, transportation, central parts distribution, returns management, reverse logistics, SmartCourier Field Repair, depot repair and warehousing for after-sale, time-critical product support. In 1997 SonicAir would begin to be branded as a wholly owned subsidiary of UPS.
Growth as part of a UPS subsidiary was rapid, and in February 1999 SonicAir announced that it would be tripling the size of its Louisville operation. [9]
On September 5, 2000, SonicAir became the UPS Logistics Group and many of the initial services it offered would become eventually become UPS Express Critical. [10]
FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "FedEx" is a syllabic abbreviation of the name of the company's original air division, Federal Express, which was used from 1973 until 2000. FedEx today is best known for its air delivery service, FedEx Express, which was one of the first major shipping companies to offer overnight delivery as a flagship service. Since then, FedEx also started FedEx Ground, FedEx Office, FedEx Supply Chain, FedEx Freight, and various other services across multiple subsidiaries, often meant to respond to its main competitor, UPS. FedEx is also one of the top contractors of the US government and assists in the transport of some United States Postal Service packages through their Air Cargo Network contract.
United Parcel Service is an American multinational shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializing in telegraphs, UPS has grown to become a Fortune 500 company and one of the world's largest shipping couriers. UPS today is primarily known for its ground shipping services as well as the UPS Store, a retail chain which assists UPS shipments and provides tools for small businesses. In addition, UPS offers air shipping on an overnight or two-day basis and delivers to post office boxes through UPS SurePost, a subsidiary that passes on packages to the United States Postal Service for last-mile delivery.
Package delivery or parcel delivery is the delivery of shipping containers, parcels, or high value mail as single shipments. The service is provided by most postal systems, express mail, private courier companies, and less than truckload shipping carriers.
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport, formerly known as simply Louisville International Airport, is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport covers 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) and has three runways. Its IATA airport code, SDF, is based on the airport's former name, Standiford Field. It has no regularly-scheduled international passenger flights, but it is a port of entry, as it handles numerous international cargo flights through the United Parcel Service's worldwide air hub through its airline, often referred to as UPS Worldport.
DHL is an American founded German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, delivering over 1.8 billion parcels per year. A subsidiary of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post, its express mail service DHL Express is one of the market leaders for parcel services in Europe and Germany's main Courier and Parcel Service.
FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of the FedEx Corporation, is an American ground package delivery company headquartered in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The company began as Roadway Package System (RPS), founded in 1985 by transportation company Roadway Services Inc., later renamed Caliber System. FedEx bought Caliber in 1998 to complement its existing FedEx Express business and rebranded Caliber's RPS package delivery service FedEx Ground in 2000.
The Toll Group is an Australian-based subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings with operations in transportation, warehousing and logistics in road, rail, sea and air. It has two divisions; Global Forwarding, Global Logistics.
Consolidated Freightways (CF) was an American multinational less-than-truckload (LTL) freight service and logistics company founded on April 1, 1929, in Portland, Oregon, and later relocated to Vancouver, Washington. Affectionately known as "CornFlakes", Consolidated Freightways was also the founder of the Freightliner line of heavy trucks, now owned by Daimler-Benz. At its height, the company possessed over 350 terminals, employing more than 15,000 truck drivers, dock workers, dispatchers and management. Consolidated Freightways was once the nation's number one long-haul trucking company and the 3rd largest-ever US bankruptcy filing, ceasing business in 2002.
C.H. Robinson is an American Fortune 200 provider of multimodal transportation services and third-party logistics (3PL). For 2021, it was ranked 5th among third-party logistics providers in the United States by Gross Revenue/Turnover. The company offers freight transportation, transportation management, brokerage and warehousing. It offers truckload, less than truckload, air freight, intermodal, and ocean transportation.
UPS Airlines is a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky. The second-largest cargo airline worldwide, UPS Airlines flies to 815 destinations worldwide. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of United Parcel Service since its launch in 1988.
VSE Corporation is a diversified products and services company providing repair services, distribution, logistics, supply chain management support and consulting services for land, sea, and air transportation assets in the public and private sectors. VSE serves commercial customers as well as the United States Government, including the United States Department of Defense (DoD), federal civilian agencies, and other customers. Operations include parts supply and distribution, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for ground transport and aviation; vehicle and equipment refurbishment; logistics; engineering; IT and health care IT solutions; and energy and mismanagement consulting services.
TFI International Inc. is a Canadian transport and logistics company based in Saint-Laurent, Quebec, a borough of Montreal. It operates primarily in Canada, the United States, and Mexico through 4 business segments: less than truckload (LTL), package and courier, logistics, and truckload. It has Canada's largest LTL business, largest trucking fleet, and in 2021 was ranked 6th in terms of revenue among both LTL and truckload North American carriers. Its trucking fleet consists of over 14,000 company-owned power units, nearly 10,000 owner-operator tractors, nearly 50,000 trailers and over 200 straight trucks.
General Logistics Systems B.V., also known as GLS, is a British-owned logistics company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company was known as German Parcel when it was founded in 1989, by Rico Back. It was subsequently rebranded as GLS and is now a subsidiary of International Distributions Services PLC (formerly Royal Mail until 3 October 2022.
FedEx Supply Chain, formerly known as GENCO is a major third-party logistics (3PL) provider in the United States and Canada. It serves various industries, including: technology & electronics, retail & e-commerce, consumer & industrial goods, and healthcare industries. The company was founded in the year 1898 by Hyman Shear as H. Shear Trucking Company in Pittsburgh. Currently it is a subsidiary of FedEx.
Livingston International is a North American provider of customs brokerage services. Livingston International provides customs brokerage, trade consulting and international freight forwarding services to importers and exporters throughout North America and around the globe. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with U.S. headquarters in Chicago, Livingston has over 3,300 employees located at more than 125 border points, seaports, airports and other locations across in North America, Europe and Asia. Livingston is currently Canada's largest customs broker and third-largest in the United States.
Third-party logistics is an organization's long term committment of outsourcing its distribution services to third-party logistics businesses.
Honeywell Intelligrated [sic] is a material handling automation and software engineering company based in Mason, Ohio. In 2017, Honeywell Intelligrated reported revenue of $1 billion. Honeywell Intelligrated has production and service locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and China.
TVS SCS Rico, formerly Rico Logistics, is a British IT logistics and support services provider. Since 2012, it has been a subsidiary of Indian third party logistics provider TVS Supply Chain Solutions, a TVS Group company.
Daseke, Inc. is the largest owner and a leading consolidator of flatbed and specialized transportation in North America, comprising 16 operating companies with over 5,200 trucks and over 11,000 flatbed and specialized trailers.
Lineage Logistics is an international warehousing and logistics management company and an industrial real estate investment trust (REIT) owned by Bay Grove, LLC. Entering international markets in 2017, it grew into the world's largest refrigerated warehousing company, acquiring, by 2021, 72 other cold-chain storage companies and handling more than eight percent of the global food supply. Lineage operates over 350 facilities with over 17,000 employees in 15 countries across North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.