How many trucks does UPS have in the US?
How would you go with answering this?
UPS trucks in the US
2 answers
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.
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
Related BootCamp article(s)
Market Sizing
Market Sizing Cases are used to test your quantitative and reasoning skills. The interviewer evaluates your structure, numbers-handling and business sense.
Important Facts
It's essential to know some key figures regarding geographies, population, economies for your case interviews. We summarized them for you here.
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