How many trucks does UPS have in the US?
How would you go with answering this?
UPS trucks in the US
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Hi,
I would follow a three-step approach (starting from the demand site):
- estimate the number of packages sent in the US per year (private + business)
- private: based on population & packages sent / population bracket
- business: +25% of private to keep it simple
- guess the market share of UPS, which translates into the number of packages delivered by UPS per year (~1/3 should do the deal, but should be verified with the interviewer)
- estimate the number of trucks needed to deliver those parcels
- how many parcels fit into a truck
- how many rides a truck can drive in a day
- number of driving days/truck (kick 1/2 days out for maintenance)
Frankly speaking, this seems a little complicated for an interview. I'm curious, what's your opinion on this approach.
Best,
F.
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Hi,
Anonymous B's approach seems pretty solid.
Bonus points for remarking that UPS has both local delivery trucks and long-haul trucks that supply their distribution centers...
Cheers
Elias
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