United Parcel Service

Carting 31 jars of California cashews, market researcher Darren Capozzi walked into a UPS Store in Hollywood recently to have the 40-ounce containers packed and shipped east for consumer testing. Over in Vernon, Kate Brubaker, a public relations specialist with jeans maker Blue Cult, chose a FedEx Kinko's to print, bind and ship a color catalog to buyers in several states. They said they made their choices based on the same thing: convenience.

United Parcel Service Inc. agreed to buy Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, a unit of Palo Alto-based CNF Inc., for $150 million in cash and about $110 million in long-term debt, the companies said. Atlanta-based UPS said the purchase of Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, which offers heavy air freight forwarding, ocean services and international trade management, underpinned efforts to broaden its growing logistics business.

The nation's first medium-duty commercial delivery truck powered by a fuel cell that converts hydrogen gas to electricity begins hauling packages in Los Angeles for United Parcel Service Inc. today. The truck, a Dodge Sprinter commercial van built by DaimlerChrysler, represents the latest generation of automotive fuel-cell development by the automaker and partner Ballard Power Systems Inc. of Canada.

Howard Spanier doesn't care what brown can do for him. He's content with the red, white and blue of his bustling Mail Boxes Etc. outlet in Malibu. Shipping giant United Parcel Service Inc., which bought the private postal chain in 2001, isn't renewing franchise licenses with the old company, and Spanier's expires in 2006. But he refuses to change colors. "It's just a fact that UPS is looking to control every aspect of my business," he said recently at the Mail Boxes Etc.

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

A UPS 757 cargo jet that took off from Los Angeles made an emergency landing in Phoenix after the delivery company received two threatening phone calls, including one that mentioned a bomb. The plane's crew evacuated out a cockpit window using a rope, said airport spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer. Anonymous phone calls to the company's 24-hour call center about 10:45 p.m. and a few minutes later Tuesday warned of "a dangerous package on board." The plane was removed to a secure area of the airport.

United Parcel Service Inc. agreed Monday to pay $10 million and improve working conditions for deaf employees to settle the nation's first class-action employment discrimination lawsuit on behalf of hearing-impaired workers. The package delivery company -- the nation's fourth-largest employer, with more than 320,000 workers -- admitted no wrongdoing in agreeing to the proposed settlement of the suit, which was filed in 1999 in federal court in San Francisco.

United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest package delivery service, increased first-quarter profit 8.5% as the company benefited from higher overseas shipments and favorable currency exchange rates. Net income climbed to $611 million, or 54 cents a share, from $563 million, or 50 cents, before an accounting change in the 2002 period. Sales rose 5.8% to $8.02 billion. International shipments rose 3.

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.

Nearly 6,000 people who worked as part-time supervisors at United Parcel Service Inc. in California are entitled to a share of an $18-million settlement announced Tuesday in a suit alleging that UPS violated the state's wage-and-hour laws. The settlement covers UPS supervisors who were scheduled to work 25 hours a week, earning average monthly salaries of $1,500.