Love is in the air … and on the road as UPSers gear up to deliver gifts of love for Valentine’s Day. While jewelry topped last year’s list of Valentine’s gifts, candy remains a popular option too. Online retailers will be busy, with 32% of U.S. consumers saying they plan to purchase their Valentine’s gifts on the web this year.

If your love comes in the form of homemade goodies, check out the #HGEATS Twitter chat on February 8 at noon ET. The UPS Store will join Kimberly Moore (twitter.com/hungrygoddess) as they share tips for packing and shipping food. With sweet thoughts on our mind, we created the following infograph to celebrate one of the sweetest holidays on the calendar.

(click on infographic to see full size)

The Chinese New Year has always been about the reunion with family and relatives. Chinese from all over the world would return home to be with their families. Well, in Singapore it is no different. This Chinese New Year, I know of several overseas friends and colleagues who will be returning to Singapore for their reunions.

As for me and many Singaporean Chinese families, it’s all about coordinating the timing for each activity. It used to be so much easier before I was married. I just follow the schedule as set out by my parents on who to visit and when.

Even then it was complicated, because timings are highly synchronized and we have multiple relatives to visit. Now, there are however, a few families that we must visit at very précised time. These are more senior family members, who are also visited by many other relatives at that time. In logistics terms, I guess these are “hub” families.

If we miss the timing at any of these “hub” families, it means that we won’t get to see those other families and we will have to make an extra trip in order to meet them during this Chinese New Year.

Now that I am married, things get even more complicated. I need to take into consideration my parents’ schedule and my in-laws’ schedule. We have to plan and prioritize so that we can accommodate as much as we can. This reminds me of network planning at work.

Oh, there is more, with the addition of two kids in the past three years the planning has become even more complex. Keeping everything on track and on time will be a constant challenge, but this is once a year. This is about family and it is definitely worth it.

Wishing everyone a prosperous new year!

Nigeria is a country blessed with abundant human and material resources. It is the most populated African country with more than 150 million people.

They are also blessed not to have the serious natural disasters common around the world. Typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc…

The country has also known relative peace and tranquility over time. But, in recent years the political divides and ethnic differences has lead to militants in the south, terrorist in the north, religious upheavals in the middle belts resulting in thousands of deaths.

Certain parts of the country now also suffer from extreme poverty and underdevelopment. Add to that, the country now suffers from droughts in the north, heavy downpour resulting in flooded cities, hunger and deprivation, serious ethnic and religious strife.

Since 2007, the Logistics Emergency Team (LET) has been responding to disasters and there are now more than 100 people trained. Working with partners from UPS, Agility, TNT and Maersk, the UN World Food Programme has developed an exploratory program called the Logistics Capacity Assessment (LCA).  The compiled LCA would enable the humanitarian community and emergency responders to build scenarios and make accurate logistics plans in case massive assistance may be required for any part of the country.

This program is designed to prepare Nigeria, in the case of disaster humanitarian aids becomes inevitable. During our recent planning/training we developed contingency plans for the movement of goods and supplies into and throughout the country.

As someone who lives here and watches these events unfolds on a daily basis, I believe this LCA is long overdue.

How do you travel for 6 weeks to 25 different cities and fit luggage for me and my mom, and all the goodies we’ve purchased along the way in a 1999 Chevy Prism? The simple answer is: you don’t.

My mom and I traveled around the country on The Smoothest Road Trip Ever.  During the promotional tour, I shared my story about how I started my skincare company, Simple Sugars, with young girls and college students with the hope of inspiring them to follow their dreams.

I started the company in 2005 when I was  11-years-old and my mom decided we would have a homemade Christmas. She insisted my brothers and I make the holiday gifts we wanted to give to family and friends. So I made body scrubs with pure sugar and all-natural oils. I have very sensitive skin and have never been able to use commercially produced products without experiencing skin irritations. I decided to make an all-natural product that would be safe for very sensitive skin like mine – one that would be fun to use and smell great, too.  That’s how Simple Sugars was born!  I know, simple, right?

My business has grown a lot over the years but I want more people to learn about it so I hit the road.  My ’99 Prism, also known as The Simple Sugars Super Smooth Mobile, and I logged 9,782 miles. (I just arrived back home in Pittsburgh last night as I write this).

Since the trip required a lot of stuff, and a Chevy Prism isn’t necessarily the roomiest car on the road, I had to figure out how to transport all of our materials. We needed product samples and display signs, tables, t-shirts, our clothes and (my shoes!!)  Plus, we picked up a few items along the way. Well, maybe more than a few, I mean it’s not every day you get to travel around the country right?

The problem was logistics – But I know my shipping partner and one of the sponsors of the smooth trip – UPS loves logistics. I am a pretty expert car-packer by now, if I must say so myself, but even I couldn’t squeeze one more thing into the car by the time we hit Minneapolis.  Well, unless I kicked my mom out – this was not an option even after six weeks of togetherness.

The solution was to use UPS to ship the materials to us at various points along our route. We picked up boxes at The UPS Store locations in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Seattle and Minneapolis and used UPS Next Day Air®, and UPS 3 Day Select®.   We also shipped presents for my family and some of the mementos I acquired along the way back home to Pittsburgh using UPS Ground.

I’ve met so many great people, made some business connections, eaten ridiculously delicious food in some of the greatest cities in the world and seen so much of the beautiful landscape of this country.  In a word, this experience has been awesome! The smoothest road trip ever!

Stay Smooth.

Everyone loves a good party! We especially loved last Thursday’s #HassleFreeHoliday Twitter party. Mommy blogger Kelly Loubet (@Childhood) and a panel of four expert bloggers got the holiday logistics ball rolling by leading a great discussion that led to some great tips, ideas and holiday secrets!

In addition to the many great ideas people shared, @UPS and @The UPS Store shared some helpful tips for creating a hassle-free holiday, including UPS My Choice, The UPS Store Pack & Ship Promise and new personalized photo gifts from The UPS Store.

While there were many great tips and tricks shared during the #HassleFreeHoliday hour, we wanted to highlight a few that really stood out to us. From strategic tips for managing the chaos of the holidays to figuring out creative ways to reuse boxes, you can find anything you need to take the hassle out of the holidays! Check them out:

What are your best resources for managing holiday tasks?

@Childhood #HassleFreeHoliday I keep a checklist on my phone so it’s always with me

@RachelFerrucci: I have a list & delegate to other family members/ coordinate w/ friends to shop #HassleFreeHoliday

@julybug17: Google Doc list, very helpful and I can access it anywhere on any device #HassleFreeHoliday

@following_ivy: I use my memo on my phone and I carry my flyers around to remind me of the sales #hasslefreeholiday

@janettwokay: I also use Lists from websites such as @Amazon, @QVC, and others. They come in handy. #HassleFreeHoliday

@toonces1989: Coupons! plan what you’re shopping for and where you’re going and look for coupons #HassleFreeHoliday

How are you designing and printing your holiday newsletter or postcards?

@saving4someday: @Childhood Printing holiday cards? You mean I can’t just send an email or a tweet? #HassleFreeHoliday

@TheGunnySack: @Childhood Q4: My youngest son writes a letter about the people our family #hasslefreeholiday

@VegasStephica: @Childhood Q4: We have handmade photo cards with our birds on them, family loves them! #HassleFreeHoliday

@following_ivy: A4: all of mines are going to be handmade! I think it’s extra special that way #hasslefreeholiday

@hawaiianstyle03: We always do Holiday Cards.  Love to take the pix then customize the cards FUN FUN! #HassleFreeHoliday

@MinnieandJ: Handcrafted of course! get my nephews to help out as well.. great projects for them #hasslefreeholiday

The Top 5 tips for reusing boxes:

@TheUPSStore6148: Used packing material can be taken to your nearest UPS store & we recycle cardboard, peanuts, bubble #HassleFreeHoliday

@janettwokay: Especially those peanuts, LOL! We recycled some yesterday in a box that we were shipping via UPS yesterday. #HassleFreeHoliday

@JanelMayer: Make an igloo instead! RT @UPS: @Childhood A8: Never good to reuse a box. Boxes can weaken+get dented during shipping. #HassleFreeHoliday

@TxTerriSweeps: I don’t reuse boxes for shipping, but we always find some way to use them at home…. storage, crafts #hasslefreeholiday

@JanelMayer: Wrap your @ups empty boxes and decorate with them! #HassleFreeHoliday party

If you missed last week’s party, don’t worry! We’ve got another one coming up this Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. We’ll talk about #HolidayPacking and feature travel expert Emily Kaufman (@thetravelmom) and another panel of expert bloggers. Along with amusing stories, our panel will share tips to prepare for holiday travel and packaging gifts. We’ll also be giving away some more prizes!

Join us by including the party hashtag #HolidayPacking in your tweets. You’ll also need to use the #hashtag for a chance to win a prize. During the party, we’ll give away three $25 gift cards to The UPS Store every 15 minutes and a $75 gift card to Wayfair.com at the end of the hour. Read more for complete rules on the prize drawings for this party.

It seems like summer was just a few short weeks ago, but there’s no denying it … the holiday season is here. And with the holidays comes logistics. Shopping for gifts, planning parties, sending greeting cards and shipping.

To help get holiday logistics under control, UPS and The UPS Store will host a series of Twitter parties to spark ideas and share tips for holiday planning. Joining us in the Twitter conversations are savvy bloggers who will lead the discussions along with a team of panelists. In the spirit of transparency, we want to disclose that we are compensating the blogger moderators and panelists.

Along with great ideas, our Twitter parties will feature prize drawings every 15 minutes. We’re giving away gift cards to The UPS Store and to UPS customers  Soft Surroundings, Wayfair.com and Anderson Seafoods. Want to win? Participate by tweeting during the party and including the party hashtag. RSVP by posting a comment and your Twitter handle to this blog post.

Let’s get this party started! Here are the details to join us:

#HassleFreeHoliday: Thursday, Nov. 17 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET

Get your game plan ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Mommy blogger Kelly Loubet (@Childhood) will lead a panel of bloggers as we discuss clever ideas to take the hassle out of the holidays. Our team with @UPS and @TheUPSStore will also share tips on holiday resources, such as packing and shipping services and UPS My Choice.

To participate in the chat and prize giveaways, include the party hashtag #HassleFreeHoliday in your tweets. Along with three $25 gift cards to The UPS Store awarded every 15 minutes, we’ll give away a $75 gift card to Soft Surroundings at the end of the party. Read more for complete rules on the prize drawings for this party.

#HolidayPacking: Thursday, Dec. 1 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever shipped or received? Travel expert Emily Kaufman (@thetravelmom) asks the questions with a panel and the @TheUPSStore team. Along with amusing stories, our panel will share tips to prepare for holiday travel and packaging gifts.

Join us by including the party hashtag #HolidayPacking in your tweets. You’ll also need to use the #hashtag for a chance to win a prize. During the party, we’ll give away three $25 gift cards to The UPS Store every 15 minutes and a $75 gift card to Wayfair.com at the end of the hour. Read more for complete rules on the prize drawings for this party.

#GreenHoliday: Thursday, Dec. 15 from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET

Our final Twitter party will feature UPS’s Chief Sustainability Officer Scott Wicker and Aman Singh (@AmanSinghCSR), who writes about corporate social responsibility and sustainability practices. Scott and Aman will discuss practical and creative options to make environmentally-friendly choices during the holidays. Scott will also discuss the green services we offer our customers through UPS and The UPS Store, such as carbon neutral shipping.

Join the conversation and share your ideas by using our party hashtag #GreenHoliday in your tweets. During the party, we’ll give away three $25 gift cards for The UPS Store every 15 minutes and a $150 gift card to Anderson Seafoods at the end of the party. Read more for complete rules on the prize drawings for this party.

It’s hard to think the holidays are almost here! Thanksgiving is in two weeks and it’s just 45 days until Christmas. But here at UPS, we’ve been working on holiday logistics all year. We’ve added an extra 55,000 brown-suited elves who we predict will help deliver more than 120 million packages in just the week before – that’s almost 300 gifts every second on our busiest day!  Worldport in Louisville is our North Pole – where a lot of those packages pass on the way to your Christmas tree.  

This year, fashionistas will be shopping on the private-sales site the Gilt Groupe – one of the leaders in the e-retail industry and UPS will deliver thousands of those holiday orders.

Have you ever wondered how runners in the ING New York City Marathon this Sunday will get their coats, sweats, street shoes and keys from the start to the finish? One thing’s for sure: you won’t see them lugging backpacks through the streets of New York City!

They do what a lot of us do when we need something important delivered – they rely on UPS.

For the 15^th consecutive year, UPS will be trusted to deliver runners’ personal effects to Central Park where they will pick them up at the end of the race.

Long before most of us are even awake on Sunday morning, more than 300 UPS volunteers will collect specially designed tote bags containing gear for as many as 45,000 marathon runners. A parade of 75 UPS package cars, with police escort, will then make a massive same-day delivery of all of the runners’ belongings to the finish line.

Now, that’s logistics!

Did you know?

• UPS volunteers (including family) will contribute over 3,500 hours for the entire marathon.
• Each package car carries the personal belongings of up to 850 individual runners. It takes 75 package cars to complete this massive project.
• Cost in tolls just to transport personal belongings is $4,160.
• Before the race, each runner knows which package car his or her belongings will be on—and exactly where it will be located in Central Park.
• 1996 was the first year that UPS moved the runners’ belongings. Only 40 cars and a little over 80 volunteers were needed to support the race back then.

Check out some of the photos from last year’s event:

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UPS has partnered with Live Nation to offer the music touring industry sustainable solutions that help eco-conscious artists reduce the carbon impact generated by the transport of their tours.  Recently, Dave Matthews Band Caravan worked with UPS to make their multi-city, multi-stage festival tour as efficient and sustainable as possible. During the tour, stages were built and swiftly transported to each concert location and UPS helped the Dave Matthews Band Caravan measure, manage and mitigate carbon emissions.

UPS has been recognized as a leader in logistics.  We can manage the most intricate details of any small package or heavy freight move – whether it’s getting Grandma’s cookies to your front door, critical service parts to a hospital half-way around the world or a polar bear cub cross-country to its new habitat.

Literally hundreds of thousands of UPS’s “logistics leaders” work behind the scenes every day to make it all come together.  We’ll introduce you to a few of them whose jobs may not come top of mind when you think of Big Brown.  You’ll get an inside look at how their unique jobs fit into UPS’s logistics story.

Meet Randy Baker.  He’s been with UPS for 21 years, the last 17 in the meteorology department.  Randy is based in Louisville, Kentucky, at Worldport, UPS’s all-points international air hub.