Growth wasn’t confined to these major acquisitions. Several new contracts served to reaffirm the course of UPS Logistics Group. Ford and UPS Logistics announced an alliance to reduce by up to 40 percent the time required to deliver Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles from Ford plants to dealers and customers. This alliance provides Web-based tracking systems for Ford and its dealers, and, soon, car buyers. The result after one year is a 26 percent improvement in time in transit – more than 20 percent ahead of plan.

Compaq announced that UPS Logistics Group would manage its service parts network, providing field stocking, central warehousing and distribution, closed-loop returns, and order fulfillment services. In a five-year agreement with National Semiconductor, UPS Logistics Group will receive all of the four billion chips manufactured by National Semiconductor in Malaysia and Singapore over the next five years, separate them into individual orders, and ship them around the world. Asian customers will receive their orders in 24 hours, while the rest of the world will receive their orders in 48 to 72 hours.