United Parcel Service Inc

United Parcel Service Inc. said it was investigating possible violations of U.S. law at its freight management unit. UPS said in a regulatory filing that it had notified the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission this month of the investigation at its Supply Chain Solutions unit. The Atlanta-based company said "a small number of former employees" might have engaged in conduct outside the U.S. that violated the country's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

United Parcel Service Inc. said it might appeal a court decision that the world's largest package carrier cannot bar all deaf people from driving its trucks. A federal judge in San Francisco ruled that UPS had failed to show that deaf drivers had a higher accident rate. The federal government allows private companies to set their own safety standards for drivers of lighter trucks. The plaintiffs' lawyers estimate that about 1,000 UPS employees are deaf.

Package delivery firm United Parcel Service Inc. is set to raise its fuel surcharge by one-quarter of a percentage point today because of an increase in the U.S. index to which it's pegged. Atlanta-based UPS will increase the surcharge to 1.5% from 1.25%, spokesman Norman Black said. UPS' fuel levy is based on the U.S. Average On-Highway Diesel Fuel Price Index, he said. The surcharge applies to domestic and international transportation rates.

United Parcel Service Inc. began letting customers ship some return packages through its 40,000 drop boxes, making it easier to send back online purchases as the company competes with FedEx Corp. for ground-shipment business. The drop-box return service is the first of its kind in the U.S., Atlanta-based UPS said. The option is only for packages shipped by UPS Ground with specific return-service labels.

United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest package-delivery company, said third-quarter profit rose 28%, exceeding its forecast, as shipments by manufacturers rose for the first time in three years. Net income increased to $739 million, or 65 cents a share, from $578 million, or 51 cents, in the 2002 period, the firm said. Sales rose 7.2% to $8.31 billion. The company's shares rose 22 cents to $68.97 on the NYSE. From Bloomberg News

FedEx Corp., the No. 2 U.S. package carrier, posted a 53% rise in third-quarter profit on increased U.S. shipments as it took market share from competitors such as United Parcel Service Inc. Net income rose to $317 million, or $1.03 a share, from $207 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier, the company said. Revenue increased 21% to $7.34 billion. Shares of Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx fell 9 cents to $96.84 on the New York Stock Exchange.

LABOR * United Parcel Service Inc. said it reached a tentative contract with unionized mechanics and other U.S. workers at its in-house airline. The five-year deal would take the top hourly wage for a UPS aircraft mechanic to $43 from $30.67 but must be approved by 1,140 members of Teamsters Local 2727. The same workers last spring rejected an earlier deal despite endorsements from union leaders and forced a second round of bargaining guided by a federal mediator.

UPS said it would increase rates for ground, air express and international shipments that originate in the United States by an average 4.9%, effective Dec. 31. United Parcel Service Inc. said the increase for air express and international shipments is based on a 6.9% increase in the base rate, less a 2% reduction in the current fuel surcharge. The increases announced by the Atlanta company appear to be in line with those recently announced by Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp.

Deutsche Post, owner of the DHL package-shipping service, agreed to buy Airborne Inc.'s ground operations and other assets for $1.05 billion to gain a U.S. truck delivery network and compete with rivals FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. Europe's biggest postal company will pay $21.25 a share in cash for the assets, 18% more than Monday's closing stock price, Chief Executive Klaus Zumwinkel said. Airborne shares rose $1.82, or 10%, to $19.87 on the NYSE.

United Parcel Service Inc. will get a new hearing on whether the Atlanta-based company violated federal law by barring hearing-impaired employees from driving smaller trucks. A full panel of judges of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed to rehear the case. Last year a three-judge panel of the same court said that although UPS must exclude deaf people from driving vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, in accordance with U.S.