The two major reasons for UPS to use a local courier service is because either the delivery area is unsafe, or in a remote section of the world. If the shipping address is too remote UPS will use a local carrier to ship the rest of the way from a major hub. This can happen in Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. In similar areas, if there is a danger to the employee they will contract out to a local company that works in the area on a regular basis.
UPS will use some local courier services in rare cases. In most cases UPS deliver from start to finish. When you use their service and put a package in their care UPS has it delivered on time and undamaged to its destination. But on some occasions it becomes necessary to use a local company, but the insurance policy and delivery on-time promise are maintained.
Their employee's safety is something that UPS values very highly. People who ship their packages share this value and understand that if the destination for their package is at war or in civil unrest, there are always certain dangers with the shipment. If UPS does not ship to one of these areas they can pass the package to a company that will deliver in the area. One of these areas of recent was in Israel where UPS used a secondary carrier. UPS will not ship to most regions with civil unrest, but they do have arrangements with the local carriers to allow packages to reach their destination.
This allows UPS to keep their employees safe and to let UPS ship almost anywhere in the world. As a company coming from humble beginnings with just a few bicycles to one of the largest and most prominent shipping and freight companies in the world, it has been a part of their success and growth. As the world has changed, UPS has striven to change and grow with it, and have become essential to many businesses around the world.
As UPS has grown there have become less and less area that they will use a different carrier for, in Canada UPS uses only its own delivery drivers, except in rare circumstances. There are now many safe zones that they have negotiated to deliver in for foreign countries. But most importantly UPS keeps their delivery guarantee for the shipper no matter where the shipping address is. As well as the money back guarantee for late deliveries.
