SCDigest
Editorial Staff
| SCDigest Says: |
 Interestingly, the industrial strength tracking systems of these carriers break down somewhere along the way to these challenging locales, usually after going through a last major hub. 
Click Here to See Reader Feedback |
As usual in the 2008 edition of “The Great Package Race,” a student project sponsored by The Supply Chain & Logistics Institute at Georgia Institute of Technology, the major parcel carriers were challenged to deliver packages to some of the most remote or difficult locations in the world.
In the 2007 race, DHL came away the clear winner (see DHL Wins 3rd “Great Package Race”). In 2008, UPS and FedEx made a strong comeback, with nearly identical delivery times to two of the five destinations, although none of the four carriers (DHL, FedEx, UPS, and USPS) thus far have been able to get packages into three other ship-to locations.
The students ship four identical packages, one for each carrier, to far flung and often dangerous locations. This year, five locations were used:
- Pitcairn Island, where the mutineers from HMS Bounty fled in 1789.
- Khartoum, Sudan, where the White Nile, flowing north from Uganda, meets the Blue Nile, flowing west from Ethiopia.
- Almaty, Kazakhstan, ancestral home of the apple.
- Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) Australia, which lies 335 km (208 miles) from the nearest large town, Alice Springs.
- Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip and one of the oldest cities in the world.
The packages were shipped on April 1.
Both FedEx and UPS delivered the package to the Uluru location on April 8, with FedEx getting there just a bit earlier. DHL delivered its package a day later, and USPS one day after that. Interestingly, the industrial strength tracking systems of these carriers break down somewhere along the way to these challenging locales, usually after going through a last major hub. For example, the students said the DHL web site noted for the Uluru shipment that “Delivery arranged; no details expected,” for the package as it passed through the DHL hub in Singapore. UPS and FedEx also lost tracking on the last legs.
(Transportation Management Article - Continued Below)
|
Transportation Management Focus : Our Weekly Feature Article on Transportation Management Strategies, Best Practices and Technologies for the Transportation and Logistics Practioner 
Thus far, no one has been able to deliver a package to Pitcairn Island, Khartoum or Gaza City, despite in most cases being told these areas were serviceable. For example, a DHL driver later told the group that that there are only three deliveries a year to Pitcairn Island and by boat only, for example, and that next time the boat leaves from Nova Scotia will be September 2008.
