“I have heard that 70 charters have already been booked to come out of Asia in the next few weeks,” says research analyst Kevin W. Sterling of BB&T Capital Markets. “I think that most of that, I can’t verify it, but I think most of it has been booked by Apple.”

Apple launches historically trigger a six-week long jolt to the global shipping system, according to Sterling. During the iPad release in March 2012, the increase in volume drove up shipping prices from Asia by 20 percent in a week, Sterling estimates, “because Apple came in and bought up so much air freight capacity.”

“It’s fascinating to see one company influences the market so much. We’ve never seen something like this,” Sterling says.

Once the gadgets land in the U.S. and clear Customs, delivery services spring into action. That’s where the fun begins. At UPS, Apple launch days begin with organized pep talks a few minutes before the drivers hit the road, according to a UPS driver who spoke with Wired on condition of anonymity. In that early morning meeting drivers are reminded of how important the day’s deliveries are, and briefed on special procedures.

“One thing we do is if we can’t complete the delivery by the end of the day, what we have to do is offload those packages,” the UPS driver said. “We have to bring them to our supervisor and put them in their offices.” The supervisor then locks up his or her office, keeping all those iPhones safe until the next day.

“Apple is huge customer for UPS and they go through great lengths to take care of them,” the driver added. (A UPS spokeswoman declined to comment on the company’s partership with Apple. FedEx, which also delivers iPhones, did not return a phone call.)

The driver described a palpable excitement while delivering the first batch of Apple goods. Some people take the day off to receive their device at home — not a bad idea, because all Apple deliveries require a signature. ”It’s amazing; people are waiting by the front door and on the porch,” the driver says, “They’re out there at 10:30 a.m. waiting.”

At one delivery last year, the driver recalls, “This lady came out of her house, walked down her driveway while I was in the back of the truck grabbing the packages. When I came out, she was sitting there at the curb waiting for me. I was like, ‘Wow.’”

The driver even shared an iPhone 4S unboxing moment with one customer. ”I got there kinda early and said, ‘Hey, let’s open it up and look at it.’ … We opened it up together. I’d heard about it, but I hadn’t seen one up until that moment.”

Surprisingly, the excitement of customers on an Apple product release is only slightly higher than a usual work day. On a scale of 1 to 10, the usual day ranks as a 6, while iPhone day ranks at an 8 or 9, according to the UPS driver.

“We’re always bringing stuff that people want,” the driver says.

There’s probably a large amount of post-delivery giddy dancing going on behind closed doors.
wired.com

“I believe it’s realistic to have it approved early next year,” said Davis. “If our leaders work together and can compromise, we can deal with these problems and get our nation on a sustainable fiscal path.”

In a speech prepared for delivery later today to a gathering of Washington state business leaders, the UPS CEO described the United States as having reached a crossroads.

“At this moment, our country’s Board of Directors — the President and Congress – are facing not one, but two self-inflicted crises: the impending fiscal cliff and the crushing trade imbalance.

“Because Congress couldn’t agree on common sense fiscal reforms last year, we now face a double whammy of potential shocks to our economy,” he added, citing automatic spending cuts and tax increases that are slated to kick in at the beginning of 2013.

Uncertainty about the looming “fiscal cliff” is causing many businesses to delay spending decisions, he said.

“When companies don’t spend and hire, the business engine driving our country sputters along. And the economy stagnates.”

Davis said the gridlock in Washington fosters doubt about the near term future in the minds of business leaders. “We need a predictable environment in which we can plan, invest, hire, grow, trade and prosper.”

A former chairman of the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors and a member of the CEO Fiscal Leadership Council, Davis also is supporting a new campaign called “Fix the Debt.” The effort is being led by former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson and President Clinton’s Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles.

Davis supported the work of a bipartisan debt commission led by those two men that called for lower tax rates, fewer deductions and common sense entitlement reform. While no plan will ever be perfect and agreed upon by all, bipartisan compromise must be achieved to reach a deficit reduction of at least $4 trillion, he added.

Davis also called on U.S. leaders to demonstrate stronger leadership on global trade. He applauded recent deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama but added: “These recent trade deals should be the first of many, not the last in memory.”

The 19 trade agreements currently in effect are inadequate, he asserted. “Trade has always been the world’s most powerful engine of growth, job creation and prosperity.”

During his remarks, Davis told the story of Jim Casey’s founding of UPS in the Seattle area in 1907 as a small bicycle messenger service, describing in some detail the company’s evolution into a global logistics leader that delivers an average of 15.8 million packages a day in more than 220 countries and territories.

He contrasted the company’s transformation over the past 105 years to the federal government’s rigid and ideological approach to dealing with today’s challenges.

“I want our elected officials in Washington, D.C., to start running this country the way we run our companies: with real leadership, courage, discipline and foresight. Simply put, we need our representatives to reach out more and to dig in their heels less. Our country needs pragmatic leaders who work together to solve problems.”
4-traders.com

“He was freaking out throwing his arms up saying ‘my son’s trapped inside! My son’s trapped inside!’ After I made the 911 call it was like 10 minutes and they showed up,” Ford said.

Aaron Hoeppner is one of the firefighters called to the scene that day. WNEM caught up with him to get his thoughts on the rescue. When Hoeppner arrived he feared the worst. Just moments later he got a delightful surprise.

“We opened the drop door up just a crack there and you could see two little eyes staring at you, which I thought was kind of funny. I was trying not to laugh,” Hoeppner said.

The child wasn’t hurt and stayed calm as firefighters used a crowbar to free him.

“He was just sitting there crossed leg right there on the ground and he climbed out and went to dad and that was pretty much the end of it,” Hoeppner said.

Meanwhile, Ford says he’s glad he could help out. And he hopes he never has to see another drop box rescue anytime soon.

“The UPS drivers need to make sure those doors are locked when they leave,” Ford said.

The United Parcel service released the following statement on the rescue:

“UPS is grateful for the quick action by the truck stop staff to contact emergency officials and their quick response to the scene with no injury to the children.

UPS has a very experienced professional driver on the route. We have no reason to believe he didn’t follow his regular protocol to close the drop box door after he made his pickup around 5/5:15 p.m. Thursday. We can’t speculate if the latch did not catch or how the children may have opened the door later in the evening. Responders quickly freed the child, who was unharmed.

The Flying J has removed the drop box from service for the moment, and UPS will replace it with new equipment this week.”

Meanwhile The Flying J released the following statement as well:

“On the evening of Sept. 6, a child crawled inside an unlocked UPS drop box located at the Flying J Travel Plaza in Saginaw, MI, and was safely freed by local firefighters. The drop box located outside of the store appeared to have been mistakenly left unlocked by UPS personnel.

Pilot Flying J thanks and applauds the store’s employees for acting quickly to contact the local authorities to ensure the child was freed without harm. The safety and wellbeing of our customers is always a top priority at Pilot Flying J.”