UPS expands service offerings in Nicaragua and Honduras

Transportation and logistics bellwether UPS announced this week that it has expanded its UPS Express Freight service into Nicaragua and Honduras.

UPS Express Freight offers a time-definite door-to-door service and includes customs clearance, which provides companies operating in those countries a faster shipping option for time-sensitive orders, according to a UPS spokesperson.

The company said that one of the main drivers for this initiative is that the United States is the number one trading partner for both Nicaragua and Honduras. It said that 65 percent of Honduran exports are bound for the U.S, and 51 percent of Honduran exports are from the U.S. Honduras is the third largest exporter of automobile wiring harnesses to the U.S., and its recent diversification of exports in recent years—ranging from agricultural goods to industrial goods had made the U.S. and Germany two of its biggest export partners. And UPS said that roughly 58 percent of Nicaragua export commodities are shipped to the U.S., including seafood, apparel, and precious metals.

“UPS is constantly looking at ways to better serve our customers,” a company spokesperson told LM. “Prior to expanding UPS Express Freight to these markets, UPS analyzed the current and projected demand for Express Freight service in both the Nicaragua and Honduras markets. With export and import needs expected to grow respectively at a rate of 14.4 percent and 7.1 percent in Nicaragua and 6.3 percent and 8.6 percent in Honduras, UPS expanded the UPS Express Freight service to meet the current and future needs of our customers in these markets, many of which are in the machinery, equipment and raw materials industries.”

Once the initial need was identified, it took UPS nine months for the implementation process.

The spokesperson said that expansion of the UPS Express Freight service enables companies to take advantage of near-sourcing opportunities in Nicaragua and Honduras, two countries that have demonstrated a significant level of international trade growth since the signing of the 2006 CAFTA-DR (Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement). And the spokesperson added that the expansion into Nicaragua and Honduras will give customers in these two countries access to UPS’s broader express freight network and connect them to other major trading cities in 27 countries in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Before expanding UPS Express Freight into these markets, the spokesperson said air freight options included two non-guaranteed airport-to-airport services: UPS Air Freight Direct for shipments that require a fast time-in-transit, and UPS Air Freight Consolidated for customers whose priority is to minimize their air transportation spend.

“As the only carrier to offer this guaranteed express service both to and from Nicaragua and Honduras, UPS has the opportunity to play a key role in the growth of trade in this region,” the spokesperson said. “Aided by the 2006 CAFTA-DR signing, Nicaragua has become by far the fastest growing Central American exporter to the U.S. Similarly, Honduras has become the third largest U.S. exporter of automotive wire harnesses and textiles. The young and rapidly urbanizing populations of both Nicaragua and Honduras have increased the imports of U.S., European and Asian consumer products to these countries, making them active players in the global economy.”