Thread: Why is it when waiting for UPS they NEVER show up.
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CyberCat is offline CyberCat
2008-02-13 , 17:59
Posts: 213 | Thanked: 97 times | Joined on Jan 2008
#21
Originally Posted by GeneralAntilles View Post
Even an additional cost of a few cents per package would work out to huge numbers for the kinds of scales that UPS or FedEx deals with. This certainly wont be just a few cents, either. For a device that'll get a decent GPS signal inside of a package in a big metal truck, be able to upload its fix to an onboard or remote computer, and last for at least 5 days . . . you're talking big bucks.

Much more feasible would be to simply interface with the truck's GPS.
Well UPS, for example, delivers about 15 million packages a day world-wide. So worst case they would have to have 15 million GPS-trackers. I'm sure they would start out with a lot less while introducing it, say about 500,000 or so. If each device cost them, say, $30 to make that would cost them about $15 million. If they charged $2 to have a GPS on your package, it would only take them 2 weeks to recover their costs, then anything beyond that would be profit.

I agree with your last statement, it would be smart to have the GPS combined with the regular tracking number online, so that when they put it on a truck or plane, where there may not be GPS, that it would additionally give you the location of the truck or plane.