United Parcel Service Inc (UPS) SEC Annual Report (10-K) for 2017

Washington, D.C. 20549

FOR ANNUAL AND TRANSITION REPORTS

PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

or

For the transition period from                      to                     

Commission file number 001-15451

____________________________________  

United Parcel Service, Inc.

(404) 828-6000

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

_______________________________  

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

_________________________________

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Class A common stock, par value $.01 per share

(Title of Class)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes   x     No   ¨

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act.    Yes   ¨     No   x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes   x     No   ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes   x     No   ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.   x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See definition of "accelerated filer", "large accelerated filer", "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. Check one:

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes   ¨     No   x

The aggregate market value of the class B common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $76,094,649,311 as of June 30, 2017 . The registrant's class A common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange or traded in an organized over-the-counter market, but each share of the registrant's class A common stock is convertible into one share of the registrant's class B common stock.

As of February 8, 2018 , there were 173,362,905 outstanding shares of class A common stock and 688,251,874 outstanding shares of class B common stock.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant's definitive proxy statement for its annual meeting of shareowners scheduled for May 10, 2018 are incorporated by reference into Part III of this report.

UNITED PARCEL SERVICE, INC.

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements

This report includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements in the future tense, and all statements accompanied by terms such as "believe," "project," "expect," "estimate," "assume," "intend," "anticipate," "target," "plan" and variations thereof and similar terms, are intended to be forward-looking statements. We intend that all forward-looking statements we make will be subject to safe harbor protection of the federal securities laws pursuant to Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Our disclosure and analysis in this report, in our Annual Report to Shareholders and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") contain forward-looking statements regarding our intent, belief and current expectations about our strategic direction, prospects and future results. From time to time, we also provide forward-looking statements in other materials we release as well as oral forward-looking statements. Such statements give our current expectations or forecasts of future events; they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Management believes that these forward-looking statements are reasonable as and when made. However, caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements because such statements speak only as of the date when made.

Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our historical experience and our present expectations or anticipated results. These risks and uncertainties are described in Part I, "Item 1A. Risk Factors" and may also be described from time to time in our future reports filed with the SEC. You should consider the limitations on, and risks associated with, forward-looking statements and not unduly rely on the accuracy of predictions contained in such forward-looking statements. We do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events, circumstances, changes in expectations or the occurrence of unanticipated events after the date of those statements.

Overview

United Parcel Service, Inc. ("UPS") was founded in 1907 as a private messenger and delivery service in Seattle, Washington. Today, we are the world's largest package delivery company, a leader in the U.S. less-than-truckload industry and a premier provider of global supply chain management solutions. We deliver packages each business day for 1.5 million shipping customers to 9.0 million receivers ("consignees") in over 220 countries and territories. In 2017 , we delivered an average of 20.0 million pieces per day, or a total of 5.1 billion packages. Total revenue in 2017 was $ 65.872 billion .

We serve the global market for logistics services, which includes transportation, distribution, contract logistics, ground freight, ocean freight, air freight, customs brokerage, insurance and financing. We have three segments: U.S. Domestic Package, International Package and Supply Chain & Freight, all of which are described below. For financial information concerning our segments and geographic regions, refer to note 12 of our audited consolidated financial statements.

Strategy

Our market strategy is to provide customers with advanced logistics solutions made possible by a broad portfolio of differentiated services and capabilities expertly assembled and integrated into our customers' businesses. This approach, supported by our efficient and globally balanced multimodal network, enables us to deliver value to our customers and thereby build lasting partnerships with them.

Customers leverage our broad portfolio of logistics capabilities comprised of: our balanced global presence in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America; reliability; industry-leading technologies and solutions expertise for competitive advantage in markets where they choose to compete. We continue to invest to expand our integrated global network and service portfolio. In 2017, we formed and received approval for a joint venture with SF Express, China's leading small package company, which will ultimately provide millions of potential customers in China with improved access to buyers and sellers around the world. We acquired Freightex, Ltd. ("Freightex") to extend our platform-based freight transportation capabilities into both the U.K. and European markets. The acquisition of Eirpost Group Unlimited Company ("Nightline") vaulted UPS to a leading market position in Ireland. We added shipping centers and healthcare and distribution facilities in Mexico, Colombia and India. In 2017, we also acquired STTAS Global Holdings, Inc. ("Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services" or "STTAS"), the world's largest dedicated global trade compliance management company.

We are increasing our capital expenditures to meet increasing global demand. Within our facilities, we are expanding automated capacity, driving greater efficiencies and providing additional network flexibilities. We also continue to invest in our air network capacity through aircraft acquisitions. In 2017, we announced investments in four new regional facilities in the Indianapolis, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Dallas areas, with the previously announced regional facility in Atlanta, Georgia continuing to move toward completion.

We have a long history of sound financial management and our consolidated balance sheet reflects financial strength. Cash generation is a significant strength of UPS, giving us ample capacity to service our obligations and allowing for distributions to shareowners, reinvestment in our business and the pursuit of growth opportunities.

Reporting segments and products & services

Global Small Package

Our global small package operations provide time-definite delivery services for express letters, documents, small packages and palletized freight via air and ground services. We serve more than 220 countries and territories around the world along with domestic delivery service in over 50 countries. We handle packages that weigh up to 150 pounds and are up to 165 inches in combined length and girth as well as palletized shipments weighing more than 150 pounds. All of our package services are supported by numerous shipping, visibility and billing technologies.

We handle all levels of service (air, ground, domestic, international, commercial and residential) through one global integrated pickup and delivery network. We combine all packages within our network, unless dictated by specific service commitments. This enables one UPS driver to pick up customers' shipments for any of our services at the same scheduled time each day. Compared to companies with single service network designs, our integrated network uniquely provides operational and capital efficiencies while being more environmentally friendly.

We offer same-day pickup of air and ground packages upon request. Customers can schedule pickups for one to five days a week, based on their specific needs. Additionally, our wholly-owned and partnered global network offers more than 150,000 entry points where customers can tender a package to us at a location or time convenient to them. This combined network includes UPS drivers who can accept packages provided to them, UPS drop boxes, UPS Access Point locations, The UPS Store locations, authorized shipping outlets and commercial counters, alliance locations and customer centers attached to UPS facilities. Some of these locations offer a full array of services, including pickup, delivery and packing options, while others are drop-off locations only.

The continued growth of online and mobile shopping has increased our customers' needs for efficient and reliable returns, resulting in our development of a robust selection of returns services that are available in more than 145 countries. The portfolio provides a range of cost-effective label options and a vast network of consumer drop points, as well as a selection of return technologies that promote efficiency and a friction-free consumer experience. These options vary based on customer need and country and include solutions such as UPS Returns ® , as well as more-specialized services such as UPS Returns ® Exchange. Our technologies promote systems integration, client ease of use and visibility of inbound merchandise, which help reduce costs and improve efficiency of our merchants' reverse logistics processes. The newly launched UPS Returns ® Manager is an excellent example of this value.

We operate one of the largest airlines in the world, with global operations centered at our Worldport hub in Louisville, Kentucky. Worldport sort capacity has expanded over the years due to volume growth and centralization efforts. Our European air hub is located in Cologne, Germany, and we maintain Asia Pacific air hubs in Shanghai, China; Shenzhen, China and Hong Kong. Our regional air hub in Canada is located in Hamilton, Ontario and our regional air hub for Latin America and the Caribbean is in Miami, Florida.

Our U.S. regional air hubs in Dallas, Texas; Ontario, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Rockford, Illinois support Worldport. This network design creates cost-effective package processing in our most technology-enabled facilities, which allows us to use fewer, larger and more fuel-efficient aircraft. Our U.S. ground fleet serves all business and residential zip codes in the contiguous U.S.

U.S. Domestic Package reporting segment

We are a leader in time-definite, money-back guaranteed, small package delivery services in the U.S. We offer a full spectrum of U.S. domestic guaranteed ground and air package transportation services.

International Package reporting segment

Our International Package reporting segment includes small package operations in Europe, Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America, and the Indian sub-continent, Middle East and Africa ("ISMEA"). We offer a wide selection of guaranteed day and time-definite international shipping services. We offer more guaranteed time-definite express options (Express Plus, Express and Express Saver) than any other carrier.

Europe, our largest region outside of the U.S., accounts for approximately half of international revenue and is one of the primary drivers of our growth. To accommodate the strong potential for growth in small package exports, we made a series of enhancements to both our ground and air networks that help reduce transit time by one to two days and will result in improved exporting opportunities for customers in Europe. These expansions and enhancements are part of our commitment to invest nearly $2 billion in our European infrastructure.

Asia Pacific remains a strategic market due to growth rates in intra-Asia trade and the expanding Chinese economy. To capitalize on these opportunities, we are bringing faster time-in-transit to customers focused on intra-Asia trade and reducing transit time from Asia to the U.S. and Europe. Through added flight frequencies, we provide our customers the ability to ship next day to more places in the U.S. and Europe - guaranteed - than any other express carrier. We serve more than 40 Asia Pacific countries and territories through more than two dozen alliances with local delivery companies that supplement company-owned operations. Our new joint venture with SF Express combines SF's extensive Chinese network with UPS's delivery capabilities in the U.S. and Europe to increase our market presence and help provide Chinese enterprises with greater global access.

Additional international highlights include several air network enhancements, improving time in transit and better addressing growing markets. A new direct flight from the U.S. to Dubai improves time in transit to key destinations in the ISMEA region for shippers throughout the U.S., Canada and the Americas. Europe added flight segments in Lithuania, Poland and Spain, while a dedicated chartered flight from Cologne to Casablanca continues our investment strategy in Morocco, an emerging market.

Supply Chain & Freight segment

The Supply Chain & Freight segment consists of our forwarding and logistics services, truckload freight brokerage, dedicated contract carriage truckload services, less-than-truckload ("LTL") services and our financial offerings through UPS Capital. Supply chain complexity creates demand for a global service offering that incorporates transportation, distribution and international trade and brokerage services, with complementary financial and information services. Outsourcing of non-core logistics activity is a strategy more and more companies are pursuing. With increased competition and growth opportunities in new markets, businesses require flexible and responsive supply chains to support their business strategies. We meet this demand by offering a broad array of supply chain services in more than 200 countries and territories.

Freight Forwarding

We are one of the largest U.S. domestic air freight carriers and among the top international air freight forwarders globally. We offer a portfolio of guaranteed and non-guaranteed global air freight services. Additionally, as one of the world's leading non-vessel operating common carriers, we provide ocean freight full-container load, less-than-container load and multimodal transportation services between most major ports around the world.

Truckload Freight Brokerage

In 2015, we acquired Coyote Logistics Midco, Inc. ("Coyote"), a U.S.-based truckload freight brokerage company. We successfully integrated this large-scale truckload freight brokerage and transportation management services operation into our Supply Chain & Freight segment and have seen significant synergies in the areas of purchased transportation, backhaul utilization, technology systems and industry best practices. Coyote's access to our UPS fleet, combined with its broad carrier network, has created a customized capacity solution for all markets, customers and situations. Moreover, Coyote creates access to UPS services (such as air freight, customs brokerage and global freight forwarding) for its customer base.

In January 2017, UPS acquired U.K.-based freight brokerage firm, Freightex. The acquisition of Freightex adds a full-scale truckload brokerage and transportation management solution to UPS's European portfolio, creating a one-stop shop for shippers throughout Europe with freight ranging from parcel to full truckload. The combination of Coyote's technology and business model with Freightex's market knowledge and established customer and carrier base complements UPS's North American truckload brokerage business, as many international shippers know and trust the Coyote truckload product.

Global Logistics and Distribution

We provide value-added logistics services to customers through our global network of company-owned and leased distribution centers and field stocking locations. We leverage a global network of more than 900 facilities in more than 100 countries around the globe to ensure products and parts are in the right place, at the right time.

Our distribution centers are strategically located near UPS air and ground transportation hubs for rapid delivery to consumer and business markets. In 2017, UPS began piloting a new integrated transportation-fulfillment solution for small business e-commerce merchants, enabling them to rapidly expand and grow their offerings without additional capital investment.

UPS Post Sales relies on central and field stocking sites to support installed and delivered equipment and devices. In 2017, we integrated UPS Access Point locations into our network, offering greater flexibility, more convenience and improved service for our customers. We also began piloting GPS tracking capabilities and are converting our primary transportation couriers across the U.S. and Canada, which will continue in 2018.

Since its acquisition in late 2016, Maze 1 Limited ("Marken") has served as the clinical trials logistics subsidiary of UPS. Marken strengthened its position as the only patient-centric supply chain organization 100 percent dedicated to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Marken expanded into new facilities, acquiring Touchdown International Logistics Co., Ltd. in Taiwan, and launching a new hybrid service that leverages the strength and reach of UPS's global network. The focus in 2017 was on accelerating revenue growth through new business wins and realizing cost synergies in areas such as IT purchasing, air transportation and insurance premiums.

UPS Express Critical provides urgent, secure transportation for time-sensitive and high-value goods. The service complements UPS's core parcel and air freight services. It includes same-day, next-flight-out and door-to-door ground services, including specialized charter and hand-carry services for both lightweight and heavyweight shipments. In 2017, UPS focused on serving fast-growing industries such as life sciences and aerospace and we will continue this focus in 2018.

UPS Freight

UPS Freight offers regional, inter-regional and long-haul LTL services in all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Mexico. UPS Freight provides reliable LTL service backed by a day-definite, on-time guarantee at no additional cost. UPS Freight also provides dedicated contract carriage truckload services to select clients. Additionally, user friendly shipping, visibility and billing technology offerings, including UPS WorldShip ® , Quantum View and UPS Billing Center, allow freight customers to create electronic bills of lading, monitor shipment progress and reconcile shipping charges.

Customs Brokerage

We are among the world's largest customs brokers by both the number of shipments processed annually and by the number of dedicated brokerage employees worldwide. In addition to customs clearance services, we also provide trade management and consulting services. In 2017, we acquired STTAS, the world's largest dedicated global trade compliance management company. STTAS will help us reach our vision of becoming the global broker of choice by expanding the depth of services we provide, as well as our geographic coverage.

UPS Capital

UPS Capital provides financial, insurance and payment services to leverage cash and help protect companies from risk in their supply chains. With services available in more than 21 countries, UPS Capital and its affiliates support all aspects of the order-to-cash cycle, including financing inventory warehoused overseas, insuring shipments and providing payment solutions. The UPS Capital suite of insurance services, trade finance and payment solutions helps customers protect their assets and keeps their businesses running smoothly. With the acquisitions of Parcel Pro™ and the Insured Parcel Services business of G4S International Logistics in 2015, UPS Capital now offers insured transportation of high value goods including loose stones, finished jewelry and wristwatches.

Our People

The strength of our company is our people, working together with a common purpose. We had more than 454,000 employees (excluding temporary seasonal employees) as of December 31, 2017 , of which 374,000 are in the U.S. and 80,000 are located internationally. Our global workforce includes approximately 81,000 management employees (40% of whom are part-time) and 373,000 hourly employees (49% of whom are part-time).

As of December 31, 2017 , we had approximately 280,000 employees employed under a national master agreement and various supplemental agreements with local unions affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("Teamsters"). During 2014, the Teamsters ratified a national master agreement with UPS that will expire on July 31, 2018.

We have approximately 2,700 pilots who are employed under a collective bargaining agreement with the Independent Pilots Association ("IPA"), which runs through September 1, 2021. The economic provisions in the agreement included pay increases, signing bonuses and enhanced pension benefits.

Our airline mechanics are covered by a collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 2727, which became amendable November 1, 2013. We are currently in negotiations with Teamsters Local 2727. In addition, approximately 3,100 of our auto and maintenance mechanics who are not employed under agreements with the Teamsters are employed under collective bargaining agreements with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers ("IAM") that will expire on July 31, 2019.

Competition

UPS is a global leader in logistics. We offer a broad array of services in the package and freight delivery industry and compete with many different local, regional, national and international logistics providers. Our competitors include worldwide postal services, various motor carriers, express companies, freight forwarders, air couriers and others, including startups that combine technology with crowdsourcing to focus on local market needs. Through our supply chain service offerings, we compete with a number of providers in the supply chain, financial services and information technology industries.

Competitive Strengths

Our competitive strengths include:

Global Network.    We believe that our integrated global ground and air network is the most extensive in the industry. We provide all types of package services (air, ground, domestic, international, commercial and residential) through a single pickup and delivery service network. We also have extensive air freight, ocean freight, ground freight and logistics networks that provide additional capabilities in the global transportation and logistics market. Our sophisticated engineering systems allow us to optimize our network efficiency and asset utilization on a daily basis.

Global Presence.    We serve more than 220 countries and territories around the world. We have a significant presence in all of the world's major economies.

Cutting-Edge Technology.     We are a global leader in developing technology that helps our customers enhance their shipping and logistics business processes to lower costs, improve service and increase efficiency.

Technology powers virtually every service we offer and every operation we perform. Customer need drives our technology offerings. We offer a variety of online service options that enable our customers to integrate UPS functionality into their own businesses not only to send, manage and track their shipments conveniently, but also to provide their customers with better information services. We provide the infrastructure for an internet presence that extends to tens of thousands of customers who have integrated UPS tools directly into their own websites.

Broad Portfolio of Services.     Our portfolio of services helps customers choose the delivery option that is most appropriate for their requirements. Increasingly, our customers benefit from business solutions that integrate many UPS services beyond package delivery. For example, our supply chain services – such as freight forwarding, truckload brokerage, customs brokerage, order fulfillment and returns management – help improve the efficiency of the supply chain management process.

Customer Relationships.     We focus on building and maintaining long-term customer relationships. We serve 1.5  million shipping customers and 9.0  million delivery customers daily. Cross selling small package, supply chain and freight services across our customer base is an important growth mechanism for UPS.

Brand Equity.     We have built a leading and trusted brand that stands for quality service, reliability and service innovation. The distinctive appearance of our vehicles and the professional courtesy of our drivers are major contributors to our brand equity.

Distinctive Culture.     We believe that the dedication of our employees comes in large part from our distinctive "employee-owner" concept. Our employee stock ownership tradition dates back to 1927, when our founders, who believed that employee stock ownership was a vital foundation for successful business, first offered stock to employees. To encourage employee stock ownership, we maintain several stock-based compensation programs.

Financial Strength.     Our financial strength gives us the resources to achieve global scale; to invest in employee development, technology, transportation equipment and facilities; to pursue strategic opportunities that facilitate our growth; to service our obligations and to return value to our shareowners in the form of dividends, share repurchases and steady share growth.

Government regulation

We are subject to numerous laws and regulations in connection with our package and non-package businesses in the countries in which we operate. Certain of these laws and regulations are summarized below.

Air Operations

The U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT"), the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, through the Transportation Security Administration ("TSA"), have regulatory authority over United Parcel Service Co.'s ("UPS Airlines") air transportation services. The Federal Aviation Act of 1958, as amended, is the statutory basis for DOT and FAA authority and the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001, as amended, is the basis for TSA aviation security authority.

The DOT's authority primarily relates to economic aspects of air transportation, such as insurance requirements, discriminatory pricing, non-competitive practices, interlocking relations and cooperative agreements. The DOT also regulates, subject to the authority of the President of the United States, international routes, fares, rates and practices and is authorized to investigate and take action against discriminatory treatment of U.S. air carriers abroad. International operating rights for U.S. airlines are usually subject to bilateral agreements between the U.S. and foreign governments or, in the absence of such agreements, by principles of reciprocity. We are also subject to current and potential aviation regulations imposed by foreign governments in the countries in which we operate, including registration and license requirements and security regulations. UPS Airlines has international route operating rights granted by the DOT and we may apply for additional authorities when those operating rights are available and are required for the efficient operation of our international network. The efficiency and flexibility of our international air transportation network is dependent on DOT and foreign government regulations and operating restrictions.

The FAA's authority primarily relates to safety aspects of air transportation, including aircraft operating procedures, transportation of hazardous materials, record keeping standards and maintenance activities and personnel. In 1988, the FAA granted us an operating certificate, which remains in effect so long as we meet the safety and operational requirements of the applicable FAA regulations. In addition, we are subject to non-U.S. government regulation of aviation rights involving non-U.S. jurisdictions and non-U.S. customs regulation.

UPS aircraft maintenance programs and procedures, including aircraft inspection and repair at periodic intervals, are approved for all aircraft under FAA regulations. The future cost of repairs pursuant to these programs may fluctuate according to aircraft condition, age and the enactment of additional FAA regulatory requirements.

The TSA regulates various security aspects of air cargo transportation in a manner consistent with the TSA mission statement to "protect the Nation's transportation systems to ensure freedom of movement for people and commerce." UPS Airlines, and specified airport and off-airport locations, are regulated under TSA regulations applicable to the transportation of cargo in an air network. In addition, personnel, facilities and procedures involved in air cargo transportation must comply with TSA regulations.

UPS Airlines, along with a number of other domestic airlines, participates in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet ("CRAF") program. Our participation in the CRAF program allows the U.S. Department of Defense ("DOD") to requisition specified UPS Airlines wide-body aircraft for military use during a national defense emergency. The DOD compensates us for the use of aircraft under the CRAF program. In addition, participation in CRAF entitles UPS Airlines to bid for military cargo charter operations.

Ground Operations

Our ground transportation of packages in the U.S. is subject to regulation by the DOT and its agency, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (the "FMCSA") and the states' jurisdiction with respect to the regulation of operations, safety, insurance and hazardous materials. We also must comply with the safety and fitness regulations promulgated by the FMCSA, including those relating to drug and alcohol testing and hours of service for drivers. We are subject to similar regulation in many non-U.S. jurisdictions.

The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 created the U.S. Postal Service as an independent establishment of the executive branch of the federal government, and created the Postal Rate Commission, an independent agency, to recommend postal rates. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 amended the 1970 Act to give the re-named Postal Regulatory Commission revised oversight authority over many aspects of the Postal Service, including postal rates, product offerings and service standards. We sometimes participate in the proceedings before the Postal Regulatory Commission in an attempt to secure fair postal rates for competitive services.

Our ground operations are subject to compliance with various cargo-security and transportation regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including regulation by the TSA.

Customs

We are subject to the customs laws in the countries in which we operate, regarding the import and export of shipments, including those related to the filing of documents on behalf of client importers and exporters. Our activities, including customs brokerage and freight forwarding, are subject to regulation by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, the TSA, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission and the DOT.

Environmental

We are subject to federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations across all of our business units. These laws and regulations cover a variety of processes, including, but not limited to: proper storage, handling and disposal of waste materials; appropriately managing wastewater and stormwater; monitoring and maintaining the integrity of underground storage tanks; complying with laws regarding clean air, including those governing emissions; protecting against and appropriately responding to spills and releases and communicating the presence of reportable quantities of hazardous materials to local responders. We have established site- and activity-specific environmental compliance and pollution prevention programs to address our environmental responsibilities and remain compliant. In addition, we have created numerous programs which seek to minimize waste and prevent pollution within our operations.

Pursuant to the Federal Aviation Act, the FAA, with the assistance of the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"), is authorized to establish standards governing aircraft noise. Our aircraft fleet is in compliance with current noise standards of the federal aviation regulations. Our international operations are also subject to noise regulations in certain countries in which we operate.

Communications

Because of our extensive use of radio and other communication facilities in our aircraft and ground transportation operations, we are subject to the Federal Communications Act of 1934, as amended. Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission regulates and licenses our activities pertaining to satellite communications.

Where You Can Find More Information

We maintain a website at www.ups.com . Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are made available through our website www.investors.ups.com as soon as reasonably practical after we electronically file or furnish the reports to the SEC. However, information on these websites is not incorporated by reference into this report or any other report filed with or furnished to the SEC.

We have adopted a written Code of Business Conduct that applies to all of our directors, officers and employees, including our principal executive officer and senior financial officers. It is available in the governance section of our investor relations website, located at www.investors.ups.com . In the event that we make changes in, or provide waivers from, the provisions of the Code of Business Conduct that the SEC requires us to disclose, we intend to disclose these events in the governance section of our investor relations website.

Our Corporate Governance Guidelines and the Charters for our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Executive Committee, Risk Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee are also available in the governance section of our investor relations website.

Our sustainability report, which describes our activities that support our commitment to acting responsibly and contributing to society, is available at www.sustainability.ups.com . We provide the addresses to our internet sites solely for the information of investors. We do not intend for any addresses to be active links or to otherwise incorporate the contents of any website into this report.

You should carefully consider the following factors, which could materially affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. You should read these Risk Factors in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Item 7 and our Consolidated Financial Statements and related notes in Item 8.

General economic conditions, both in the U.S. and internationally, may adversely affect our results of operations.

We conduct operations in over 220 countries and territories. Our U.S. and international operations are subject to normal cycles affecting the economy in general, as well as the local economic environments in which we operate. The factors that create cyclical changes to the economy and to our business are beyond our control, may adversely impact our credit rating and it may be difficult for us to adjust our business model to mitigate the impact of these factors. In particular, our business is affected by levels of industrial production, consumer spending and retail activity and our business, financial position and results of operations could be materially affected by adverse developments in these aspects of the economy. The United Kingdom's vote to leave the European Union could result in economic uncertainty and instability, resulting in fewer goods being transported globally.

We face significant competition which could adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.

We face significant competition on a local, regional, national and international basis. Our competitors include the postal services of the U.S. and other nations, various motor carriers, express companies, freight forwarders, air couriers and others. Competition may also come from other sources in the future. Some of our competitors have cost and organizational structures that differ from ours and may offer services and pricing terms that we may not be willing or able to offer. If we are unable to timely and appropriately respond to competitive pressures, our business, financial position and results of operations could be adversely affected.

The transportation industry continues to consolidate and competition remains strong. As a result of consolidation, our competitors may increase their market share and improve their financial capacity, and may strengthen their competitive positions. Business combinations could also result in competitors providing a wider variety of services and products at competitive prices, which could adversely affect our financial performance.

Changes in our relationships with our significant customers, including the loss or reduction in business from one or more of them, could have an adverse impact on us.

No single customer accounts for 10% or more of our consolidated revenue. We do not believe the loss of any single customer would materially impair our overall financial condition or results of operations; however, collectively, some of our large customers might account for a relatively significant portion of the growth in revenue in a particular quarter or year. These customers can drive the growth in revenue for particular services based on factors such as: new customer product launches; trends in the e-commerce industry, such as the seasonality associated with the fourth quarter holiday season; business mergers and acquisitions and the overall fast growth of a customer's underlying business. These customers could choose to divert all or a portion of their business with us to one of our competitors, demand pricing concessions for our services, require us to provide enhanced services that increase our costs, or develop their own shipping and distribution capabilities. If these factors drove some of our large customers to cancel all or a portion of their business relationships with us, it could materially impact the growth in our business and the ability to meet our current and long-term financial forecasts.

Our business is subject to complex and stringent regulation in the U.S. and internationally.

We are subject to complex and stringent aviation, transportation, environmental, security, labor, employment and other governmental laws, regulations and policies, both in the U.S. and in the other countries in which we operate. In addition, our business is impacted by laws, regulations and policies that affect global trade, including tariff and trade policies, export requirements, taxes, monetary policies and other restrictions and charges. Changes in laws, regulations and policies and the related interpretations may alter the landscape in which we do business and may affect our costs of doing business. The impact of new laws, regulations and policies cannot be predicted. Compliance with new laws and regulations may increase our operating costs or require significant capital expenditures. Any failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations in the U.S. or in any of the countries in which we operate could result in substantial fines or possible revocation of our authority to conduct our operations, which could adversely affect our financial performance.

Increased security requirements could impose substantial costs on us and we could be the target of an attack or have a security breach.

As a result of concerns about global terrorism and homeland security, governments around the world have adopted or may adopt stricter security requirements that will result in increased operating costs for businesses in the transportation industry. These requirements may change periodically as a result of regulatory and legislative requirements and in response to evolving threats. We cannot determine the effect that these new requirements will have on our cost structure or our operating results, and these rules or other future security requirements may increase our costs of operations and reduce operating efficiencies. Regardless of our compliance with security requirements or the steps we take to secure our facilities or fleet, we could be the target of an attack or security breaches could occur, which could adversely affect our operations or our reputation.

We are subject to increasingly stringent regulations related to climate change, and new regulations could materially increase our operating costs.

Concern over climate change, including the impact of global warming, has led to significant legislative and regulatory efforts, particularly internationally but also in the United States, to limit greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions. State and local governments also are increasingly considering GHG regulation. The possibility of increased regulation of GHG emissions potentially exposes our transportation and logistics businesses to significant new taxes, fees and other costs. Compliance with such potential regulation or the associated potential costs is further complicated by the fact that various countries and regions are following different approaches to the regulation of climate change.

We are subject to international regulation of GHG emissions. For example, in 2009 the European Commission approved the extension to the airline industry of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme ("ETS") for GHG emissions. Under this decision, all of our flights operating within the European Union are covered by the ETS requirements, and we are required annually to purchase emission allowances in an amount exceeding the number of free allowances allocated to us under the ETS. Similarly, in 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization ("ICAO") passed a resolution adopting the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation ("CORSIA"), which is a global, market-based emissions offset program to encourage carbon-neutral growth beyond 2020. A pilot phase is scheduled to begin in 2021 in which countries may voluntarily participate, and full mandatory participation is scheduled to begin in 2027. ICAO continues to develop details regarding implementation, but compliance with CORSIA will increase our operating costs.

In the U.S., Congress in the past several years has considered various bills that would regulate GHG emissions, but these bills so far have not received sufficient Congressional support for enactment. Nevertheless, some form of federal climate change legislation is possible in the future. Even in the absence of such legislation, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA"), spurred by judicial interpretation of the Clean Air Act, could determine to regulate GHG emissions, especially aircraft or diesel engine emissions, and this could impose substantial costs on us.

In August 2017, the U.S. announced its intention to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, an agreement among 196 countries to reduce GHG emissions, and the effect of that withdrawal on future U.S. policy regarding GHG emissions, on CORSIA and on other GHG regulation is uncertain. Nevertheless, the extent to which other countries implement that agreement could have an adverse direct or indirect effect on our business.

We may face additional regulations regarding GHG emissions internationally and in the United States. Potential costs to us of increased regulation regarding GHG emissions, especially aircraft or diesel engine emissions, include an increase in the cost of the fuel and other energy we purchase and capital costs associated with updating or replacing our aircraft or vehicles prematurely. However, until the timing, scope and extent of any future regulation becomes known, we cannot predict its effect on our cost structure or our operating results. It is reasonably possible that such regulation could significantly increase our operating expenses if we are unable to pass such costs along to our customers. Moreover, even without such regulation, increased awareness and any adverse publicity in the global marketplace about the GHGs emitted by companies in the airline and transportation industries could harm our reputation and reduce customer demand for our services, especially our air services.

Strikes, work stoppages and slowdowns by our employees could adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.

A significant number of our employees are employed under a national master agreement and various supplemental agreements with local unions affiliated with the Teamsters. In addition, our airline pilots, airline mechanics, ground mechanics and certain other employees are employed under other collective bargaining agreements. Strikes, work stoppages and slowdowns by our employees could adversely affect our ability to meet our customers' needs, and customers may do more business with competitors if they believe that such actions or threatened actions may adversely affect our ability to provide services. We may face a permanent loss of customers if we are unable to provide uninterrupted service, and this could adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations. The terms of future collective bargaining agreements also may affect our competitive position and results of operations.

We are exposed to the effects of changing prices of energy, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, and interruptions in supplies of these commodities.

Changing fuel and energy costs may have a significant impact on our operations. We require significant quantities of fuel for our aircraft and delivery vehicles and are exposed to the risk associated with variations in the market price for petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. We mitigate our exposure to changing fuel prices through our indexed fuel surcharges and we may also enter into hedging transactions from time to time. If we are unable to maintain or increase our fuel surcharges, higher fuel costs could adversely impact our operating results. Even if we are able to offset the cost of fuel with our surcharges, high fuel surcharges may result in a mix shift from our higher-yielding air products to lower-yielding ground products or an overall reduction in volume. There can be no assurance that our hedging transactions will be effective to protect us from changes in fuel prices. Moreover, we could experience a disruption in energy supplies, including our supply of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, as a result of war, actions by producers or other factors beyond our control, which could have an adverse effect on our business.

Changes in exchange rates or interest rates may have an adverse effect on our results.

We conduct business across the globe with a significant portion of our revenue derived from operations outside the United States. Our operations in international markets are affected by changes in the exchange rates for local currencies, and in particular the Euro, British Pound Sterling, Canadian Dollar, Chinese Renminbi and Hong Kong Dollar .

We are exposed to changes in interest rates, primarily on our short-term debt and that portion of our long-term debt that carries floating interest rates. The impact of a 100-basis-point change in interest rates affecting our debt is discussed in the "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk" section of this report. Additionally, changes in interest rates impact the valuation of our pension and postretirement benefit obligations and the related benefit cost recognized in the income statement. The impact of changes in interest rates on our pension and postretirement benefit obligations and costs is discussed further in the "Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates" section of this report.

We monitor and manage our exposures to changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates, and make use of derivative instruments to mitigate the impact of changes in these rates on our financial position and results of operations; however, changes in exchange rates and interest rates cannot always be predicted or hedged.

If we are unable to maintain our brand image and corporate reputation, our business may suffer.

Our success depends in part on our ability to maintain the image of the UPS brand and our reputation for providing excellent service to our customers. Service quality issues, actual or perceived, even when false or unfounded, could tarnish the image of our brand and may cause customers to use other companies. Also, adverse publicity surrounding labor relations, environmental concerns, security matters, political activities and the like, or attempts to connect our company to these sorts of issues, either in the United States or other countries in which we operate, could negatively affect our overall reputation and acceptance of our services by customers. Damage to our reputation and loss of brand equity could reduce demand for our services and thus have an adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations, and could require additional resources to rebuild our reputation and restore the value of our brand.

A significant data breach or IT system disruption could adversely affect our business, financial results, or reputation, and we may be required to increase our spending on data and system security.

We rely heavily on information technology networks and systems, including the Internet, to manage or support a wide variety of important business processes and activities throughout our operations. For example, we rely on information technology to receive package level information in advance of physical receipt of packages, to track items that move through our delivery systems, to efficiently plan deliveries, to execute billing processes, and to track and report financial and operational data. Our franchised center locations and businesses we have acquired also are reliant on the use of information technology systems to manage their business processes and activities.

In addition, the provision of service to our customers and the operation of our networks and systems involve the storage and transmission of significant amounts of proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data, including personal information of customers, employees and others. To conduct our operations, we regularly move data across national borders, and consequently we are subject to a variety of continuously evolving and developing laws and regulations in the United States and abroad regarding privacy, data protection and data security. The scope of the laws that may be applicable to us is often uncertain and may be conflicting, particularly with respect to foreign laws. For example, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), which greatly increases the jurisdictional reach of European Union law and adds a broad array of requirements for handling personal data, including the public disclosure of significant data breaches, becomes effective in May 2018. Other countries have enacted or are enacting data localization laws that require data to stay within their borders. All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements impose significant costs that are likely to increase over time.

Our information technology systems (as well as those of our franchisees and acquired businesses) may be susceptible to damage, disruptions or shutdowns due to failures during the process of upgrading or replacing software, databases or components thereof, power outages, hardware failures, computer viruses, cyber-attacks, ransomware attacks, malware attacks, malicious employees or other insiders, telecommunications failures, human errors or catastrophic events. Hackers, foreign governments, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals, acting individually or in coordinated groups, may launch distributed denial of service attacks or other coordinated attacks that may cause service outages, gain inappropriate or block legitimate access to systems or information, or result in other interruptions in our business. In addition, breaches in security could expose us, our customers and franchisees, or the individuals affected, to a risk of loss or misuse of proprietary information and sensitive or confidential data, including personal information of customers, employees and others. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service or sabotage systems change frequently, may be difficult to detect for a long time and often are not recognized until launched against a target. As a result, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures.

We also depend on and interact with the information technology networks and systems of third-parties for many aspects of our business operations, including our customers and franchisees and service providers such as cloud service providers and third-party delivery services. These third parties may have access to information we maintain about our company, operations, customers, employees and vendors, or operating systems that are critical to or can significantly impact our business operations. Like us, these third-parties are subject to risks imposed by data breaches and cyber-attacks and other events or actions that could damage, disrupt or close down their networks or systems. Security processes, protocols and standards that we have implemented and contractual provisions requiring security measures that we may have sought to impose on such third-parties may not be sufficient or effective at preventing such events, which could result in unauthorized access to, or disruptions or denials of access to, or misuse of, information or systems that are important to our business, including proprietary information, sensitive or confidential data, and other information about our operations, customers, employees and suppliers, including personal information.

Any of these events that impact our information technology networks or systems, or those of acquired businesses, franchisees, customers, service providers or other third-parties, could result in disruptions in our operations, the loss of existing or potential customers, damage to our brand and reputation, regulatory scrutiny, and litigation and potential liability for the company. Among other consequences, our customers' confidence in our ability to protect data and systems and to provide services consistent with their expectations could be impacted, further disrupting our operations. Similarly, an actual or alleged failure to comply with applicable U.S. or foreign data protection regulations or other data protection standards may expose us to litigation, fines, sanctions or other penalties.

We have invested and continue to invest in technology security initiatives, information technology risk management and disaster recovery plans. The cost and operational consequences of implementing, maintaining and enhancing further data or system protection measures could increase significantly to overcome increasingly intense, complex and sophisticated global cyber threats. Despite our best efforts, we are not fully insulated from data breaches and system disruptions. For example, in August 2014, a broad-based malware intrusion targeting retailers throughout the U.S. was discovered and subsequently eradicated at approximately 1% of our franchisees' locations. While the impact of this cyber-attack, including the costs associated with investigation and remediation activities, was not material to our business and our financial results, there is no assurance that such impacts will not be material in the future, and our efforts to deter, identify, mitigate and/or eliminate future breaches may require significant additional effort and expense and may not be successful.

Severe weather or other natural or manmade disasters could adversely affect our business.

Severe weather conditions and other natural or manmade disasters, including storms, floods, fires or earthquakes, epidemics or pandemics, conflicts or unrest, or terrorist attacks, may result in decreased revenues, as our customers reduce their shipments, or increased costs to operate our business, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations for a quarter or year. Any such event affecting one of our major facilities could result in a significant interruption in or disruption of our business.

We make significant capital investments in our business of which a significant portion is tied to projected volume levels.

We require significant capital investments in our business consisting of aircraft, vehicles, technology, facilities and sorting and other types of equipment to support both our existing business and anticipated growth. Forecasting projected volume involves many factors which are subject to uncertainty, such as general economic trends, changes in governmental regulation and competition. If we do not accurately forecast our future capital investment needs, we could have excess capacity or insufficient capacity, either of which would negatively affect our revenues and profitability. In addition to forecasting our capital investment requirements, we adjust other elements of our operations and cost structure in response to adverse economic conditions; however, these adjustments may not be sufficient to allow us to maintain our operating margins in a weak economy.

We derive a significant portion of our revenues from our international operations and are subject to the risks of doing business in international markets.

We have significant international operations, and while the geographical diversity of our international operations helps ensure that we are not overly reliant on a single region or country, we are continually exposed to changing economic, political and social developments that are beyond our control. Emerging markets are typically more volatile than those in the developed world, and any broad-based downturn in these markets could reduce our revenues and adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations. We are subject to many laws governing our international operations, including those that prohibit improper payments to government officials and commercial customers, and restrict where we can do business, our shipments to certain countries and the information that we can provide to non-U.S. governments.

We are subject to changes in markets and our business plans that have resulted, and may in the future result, in substantial write-downs of the carrying value of our assets, thereby reducing our net income.

Our regular review of the carrying value of our assets has resulted, from time to time, in significant impairments, and we may in the future be required to recognize additional impairment charges. Changes in business strategy, government regulations, or economic or market conditions have resulted and may result in further substantial impairments of our intangible, fixed or other assets at any time in the future. In addition, we have been and may be required in the future to recognize increased depreciation and amortization charges if we determine that the useful lives of our fixed assets or intangible assets are shorter than we originally estimated. Such changes could reduce our net income.

Employee health and retiree health and pension benefit costs represent a significant expense to us.

Our expenses relating to employee health and retiree health and pension benefits are significant. In recent years, we have experienced significant increases in some of these costs, largely as a result of economic factors beyond our control, including, in particular, ongoing increases in healthcare costs well in excess of the rate of inflation and historically low discount rates that we use to value our benefit plan obligations. Continually increasing healthcare costs, volatility in investment returns and discount rates, as well as changes in laws, regulations and assumptions used to calculate retiree health and pension benefit expenses, may adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations or require significant contributions to our benefit plans. The national master agreement with the IBT includes changes that are designed to mitigate certain of these healthcare expenses, but there can be no assurance that our efforts will be successful or that the failure or success of these efforts will not adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations or liquidity.

We participate in a number of trustee-managed multiemployer pension and health and welfare plans for employees covered under collective bargaining agreements. As part of the overall collective bargaining process for wage and benefit levels, we have agreed to contribute certain amounts to the multiemployer benefit plans during the contract period. The multiemployer benefit plans set benefit levels and are responsible for benefit delivery to participants. Future contribution amounts to multiemployer benefit plans will be determined only through collective bargaining, and we have no additional legal or constructive obligation to increase contributions beyond the agreed-upon amounts (except potential surcharges under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 in the event that a plan enters critical status, and our contributions are not sufficient to satisfy any rehabilitation plan funding schedule). In future collective bargaining negotiations, we could agree to make significantly higher future contributions to improve the funded status of one or more of these plans. The funded status of these multiemployer plans is impacted by various factors, including investment performance, healthcare inflation, changes in demographics and changes in participant benefit levels. At this time, we are unable to determine the amount of additional future contributions, if any, or whether any material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or liquidity could result from our participation in these plans.

In addition to our on-going multiemployer pension plan obligations, we may have additional exposure with respect to benefits earned in the Central States Pension Fund (the "CSPF"). UPS was a contributing employer to the CSPF until 2007 when we withdrew from the plan and fully funded our allocable share of unfunded vested benefits by paying a $6.1 billion withdrawal liability. Under a collective bargaining agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters ("IBT"), UPS agreed to provide coordinating benefits in the UPS/IBT Full Time Employee Pension Plan ("UPS/IBT Plan") for UPS participants whose last employer was UPS and who had not retired as of January 1, 2008 ("the UPS Transfer Group") in the event that benefits are lawfully reduced by the CSPF in the future consistent with the terms of our withdrawal agreement with the CSPF.

In December 2014, Congress passed the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act ("MPRA"), which for the first time ever allowed multiemployer pension plans to reduce benefit payments to retirees, subject to specific guidelines in the statute and government approval. In September 2015, the CSPF submitted a proposed pension benefit reduction plan to the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the MPRA. The CSPF plan proposed to reduce retirement benefits to the CSPF participants, including the UPS Transfer Group. We vigorously challenged the proposed benefit reduction plan because we believed that it did not comply with the law and that the CSPF failed to comply with its contractual obligation to obtain our consent to reduce benefits to the UPS Transfer Group under the terms of the withdrawal agreement with the CSPF. On May 6, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury rejected the proposed plan submitted by the CSPF, stating that it failed to satisfy a number of requirements set forth in the MPRA.

The CSPF has asserted that it will become insolvent in 2025, which could lead to the reduction of retirement benefits. Although there are numerous factors that could affect the CSPF's funding status, if the CSPF were to become insolvent as they have projected, UPS may be required to provide coordinating benefits, thereby increasing the current projected benefit obligation for the UPS/IBT Plan by approximately $ 4 billion. The CSPF has said that it believes a legislative solution to its funding status is necessary, and we expect that the CSPF will continue to explore options to avoid insolvency.

The potential obligation to pay coordinating benefits from the UPS/IBT Plan is subject to a number of significant uncertainties, including actions that may be taken by the CSPF, the federal government or others. These actions include whether the CSPF will submit a revised pension benefit reduction plan or otherwise seek federal government assistance, the extent to which benefits are paid by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, our ability to successfully defend our legal positions as well as the effect of discount rates, CSPF asset returns and various other actuarial assumptions.

We account for this potential obligation under Accounting Standards Codification Topic 715- Compensation- Retirement Benefits ("ASC 715"). Under ASC 715 we are required to provide a best estimate of various actuarial assumptions, including the eventual outcome of this matter, in measuring our pension benefit obligation at the December 31st measurement date. While we currently believe the most likely solution to this matter and the broader systemic problems facing multiemployer pension plans is intervention by the federal government, ASC 715 does not permit anticipation of changes in law in making a best estimate of pension liabilities. Our best estimate as of the measurement date of December 31, 2017 does not incorporate this solution. However, if a future change in law resulted in an obligation to provide coordinating benefits under the UPS/IBT Plan, it may be a significant event, and may require us to remeasure the plan assets and projected benefit obligation of the UPS/IBT Plan at the date the law is enacted.

Our best estimate of the next most likely outcome to resolve the CSPF's solvency concerns is that the CSPF will submit another benefit suspension application under the MPRA to forestall insolvency without reducing benefits to the UPS Transfer Group. If the CSPF attempts to reduce benefits for the UPS Transfer Group under a MPRA filing, we would be in a strong legal position to prevent that from occurring given that these benefits cannot be reduced without our consent and such a reduction, without first exhausting reductions to other groups in the CSPF, would be contrary to the statute. Accordingly, our best estimate as of the measurement date of December 31, 2017 is that there is no liability to be recognized for additional coordinating benefits of the UPS/IBT Plan. However, the projected benefit obligation could materially increase as the uncertainties are resolved. We will continue to assess the impact of these uncertainties on the projected benefit obligation of the UPS/IBT Plan in accordance with ASC 715.

We may have additional tax liabilities.

We are subject to income taxes in the U.S. and many foreign jurisdictions. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide provision for income taxes. In the course of our business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. For example, compliance with the 2017 United States Tax Cut and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") may require the collection of information not regularly produced within our company, the use of provisional estimates in our financial statements, and the exercise of significant judgment in accounting for its provisions. Many aspects of the Tax Act are unclear and may not be clarified for some time. As regulations and guidance evolve with respect to the Tax Act, and as we gather more information and perform more analysis, our results may differ from previous estimates and may materially affect our financial position.

We regularly are under audit by tax authorities in different jurisdictions. Economic and political pressures to increase tax revenue in various jurisdictions may make resolving tax disputes favorably more difficult. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of tax audits and any related litigation in the jurisdictions where we are subject to taxation could be materially different from our historical income tax provisions and accruals. In addition, changes in U.S. federal and state or international tax laws applicable to corporate multinationals, other fundamental law changes currently being considered by many countries, including in the U.S., and changes in taxing jurisdictions' administrative interpretations, decisions, policies and positions may materially adversely impact our tax expense and cash flows.

We may be subject to various claims and lawsuits that could result in significant expenditures.

The nature of our business exposes us to the potential for various claims and litigation related to labor and employment, personal injury, property damage, business practices, environmental liability and other matters. Any material litigation or a catastrophic accident or series of accidents could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

We may not realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions, joint ventures or strategic alliances.

As part of our business strategy, we may acquire businesses and form joint ventures or strategic alliances. Whether we realize the anticipated benefits from these transactions depends, in part, upon the successful integration between the businesses involved, the performance of the underlying operations, capabilities or technologies and the management of the acquired operations. Accordingly, our financial results could be adversely affected by our failure to effectively integrate the acquired operations, unanticipated performance issues, transaction-related charges or charges for impairment of long-term assets that we acquire.

Insurance and claims expenses could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have a combination of both self-insurance and high-deductible insurance programs for the risks arising out of the services we provide and the nature of our global operations, including claims exposure resulting from cargo loss, personal injury, property damage, aircraft and related liabilities, business interruption and workers' compensation. Workers' compensation, automobile and general liabilities are determined using actuarial estimates of the aggregate liability for claims incurred and an estimate of incurred but not reported claims, on an undiscounted basis. Our accruals for insurance reserves reflect certain actuarial assumptions and management judgments, which are subject to a high degree of variability. If the number or severity of claims for which we are retaining risk increases, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected. If we lose our ability to self-insure these risks, our insurance costs could materially increase and we may find it difficult to obtain adequate levels of insurance coverage.

Not applicable.

Operating Facilities

We own our headquarters, which is located in Atlanta, Georgia and consists of about 745,000 square feet of office space, and our UPS Supply Chain Solutions group's headquarters, which is located in Alpharetta, Georgia and consists of about 310,000 square feet of office space.

Our primary information technology operations are consolidated in a 444,000 square foot owned facility, the Ramapo Ridge facility, in Mahwah, New Jersey. Our information technology headquarters is located in Parsippany, New Jersey, consisting of about 200,000 square feet of office space. We also own a 175,000 square foot facility in Alpharetta, Georgia, which serves as a backup to the main information technology operations facility in New Jersey. This facility provides production functions and backup capacity in the event that a power outage or other disaster incapacitates the main data center. It also helps to meet our internal communication needs.

We own or lease over 1,000 package operating facilities in the U.S., with approximately 68 million square feet of floor space. The smaller of these facilities have vehicles and drivers stationed for the pickup and delivery of packages, and capacity to sort and transfer packages. The larger of these facilities also service our vehicles and equipment, and employ specialized mechanical installations for the sorting and handling of packages. We own or lease approximately 800 facilities that support our international package operations, with approximately 20 million square feet of floor space.

In addition, we own or lease more than 500 facilities, with approximately 34 million square feet of floor space, that support our freight forwarding and logistics operations. We own and operate a logistics campus consisting of approximately 4 million square feet in Louisville, Kentucky.

We own or lease approximately 200 UPS Freight service centers with approximately 6 million square feet of floor space. The main offices of UPS Freight are located in Richmond, Virginia and consist of about 217,000 square feet of office space.

Our aircraft are operated in a hub and spoke pattern in the U.S., with our principal air hub, known as Worldport, located in Louisville, Kentucky. The Worldport facility consists of over 5 million square feet and includes high speed conveyor and computer control systems.

We also own or lease regional air hubs globally, with over 4 million square feet of floor space. Our U.S. regional air hubs are located in Dallas, Texas; Ontario, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Rockford, Illinois. These hubs house facilities for the sorting, transfer and delivery of packages. Our European air hub is located in Cologne, Germany, and we maintain Asia Pacific air hubs in Shanghai, China; Shenzhen, China and Hong Kong. Our regional air hub in Canada is located in Hamilton, Ontario, and our regional air hub for Latin America and the Caribbean is in Miami, Florida.

In 2017, we announced seven new buildings and one expansion that total more than 5 million square feet. We believe that our facilities are adequate to support our current operations.

Fleet

Aircraft

The following table shows information about our aircraft fleet as of December 31, 2017 :

On February 1, 2018, we announced an order for 14 Boeing 747-8 freighters previously under option and four new Boeing 767 aircraft to be delivered between 2019 and 2022.

Vehicles

We operate a global ground fleet of approximately 119,000 package cars, vans, tractors and motorcycles. Our ground support fleet consists of 35,000 pieces of equipment designed specifically to support our aircraft fleet, ranging from non-powered container dollies and racks to powered aircraft main deck loaders and cargo tractors. We also have 45,000 containers used to transport cargo in our aircraft.

For a discussion of legal proceedings affecting us and our subsidiaries, please see note 4 to the audited consolidated financial statements for a discussion of pension related matters and note 9 for a discussion of judicial proceedings and other matters arising from the conduct of our business activities.

Not applicable.

PART II

Our class A common stock is not listed on a national securities exchange or traded in an organized over-the-counter market, but each share of our class A common stock is convertible into one share of our class B common stock.

The following is a summary of our class B common stock price activity and dividend information for 2017 and 2016 . Our class B common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "UPS".

As of February 8, 2018 , there were 154,033 and 18,863 shareowners of record of class A and class B common stock, respectively.

Our practice has been to pay dividends on a quarterly basis. The declaration of dividends is subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend on various factors, including our net income, financial condition, cash requirements, future prospects and other relevant factors.

On February 8, 2018 , our Board declared a dividend of $ 0.91 per share, which is payable on March 7, 2018 to shareowners of record on February 20, 2018 . This represents a 10% increase from the previous $0.83 quarterly dividend in 2017.

A summary of repurchases of our class A and class B common stock during the fourth quarter of 2017 is as follows (in millions, except per share amounts):

In May 2016 , the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase authorization of $ 8.0 billion, which replaced an authorization previously announced in 2013 . The new share repurchase authorization has no expiration date. We anticipate repurchasing approximately $ 1.0 billion of shares in 2018 .

Shareowner Return Performance Graph

The following performance graph and related information shall not be deemed "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the SEC, nor shall such information be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act of 1933 or Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, except to the extent that the Company specifically incorporates such information by reference into such filing.

The following graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total shareowners' returns for our class B common stock, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Dow Jones Transportation Average. The comparison of the total cumulative return on investment, which is the change in the quarterly stock price plus reinvested dividends for each of the quarterly periods, assumes that $100 was invested on December 31, 2012 in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index, the Dow Jones Transportation Average and our class B common stock.

The following table sets forth selected financial data for each of the five years in the period ended December 31, 2017 (in millions, except per share amounts). This financial data should be read together with our consolidated financial statements and related notes, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, including the Items Affecting Comparability section, and other financial data appearing elsewhere in this report.

Overview

We produced solid growth and operating results in 2017 across all operating segments. In 2017, consolidated revenue increased 8.2% to $65.872 billion , up from $60.906 billion in 2016. Revenue for 2017 increased in all segments and major product categories, due to shipment growth, yield expansion and benefits recognized from our network investments and portfolio initiatives. While operating profits were positively impacted by these growth factors discussed above, they were partially offset by impacts from natural disasters, capacity constraints due to volume surges in the fourth quarter of 2017, operating costs associated with facility construction and the deployment of Saturday operations in our U.S. Domestic Package segment.

Operating profit for 2017 was up 37.7% to $7.529 billion , driven by strong performance in all segments and a $1.851 billion reduction in the pension mark-to-market charges.

Average daily package volume increased 4.9% in 2017. We reported 2017 net income of $4.910 billion and diluted earnings per share of $5.61 , compared to 2016 net income of $3.431 billion and diluted earnings per share of $3.87 .

Our consolidated results are presented in the table below:

Items Affecting Comparability

The results and discussions that follow are reflective of how our executive management monitors the performance of our reporting segments. We supplement the reporting of our financial information determined under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") with certain non-GAAP financial measures, including "adjusted" compensation and benefits, operating expenses, operating profit, operating margin, income tax expense and effective tax rate. These adjustments reflect the non-comparable items discussed below. We believe that these adjusted measures provide meaningful information to assist investors and analysts in understanding our financial results and assessing our prospects for future performance. We believe these adjusted financial measures are important indicators of our recurring results of operations because they exclude items that may not be indicative of, or are unrelated to, our underlying results of operations and provide a useful baseline for analyzing trends in our underlying businesses. Additionally, these adjusted financial measures are used internally by management for the determination of incentive compensation awards, business unit operating performance analysis and business unit resource allocation.

Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, and not as an alternative for, our reported results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Our non-GAAP financial information does not represent a comprehensive basis of accounting. Therefore, our non-GAAP financial information may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

We supplement the reporting of our revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit with similar non-GAAP measures that exclude the period-over-period impact of foreign currency exchange rate changes and hedging activities. We believe currency-neutral revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit information allows users of our financial statements to understand growth trends in our products and results. We evaluate the performance of our International Package and Supply Chain & Freight businesses on a currency-neutral basis.

Currency-neutral revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit are calculated by dividing current period reported U.S. dollar revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit by the current period average exchange rates to derive current period local currency revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit. The derived current period local currency revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit are then multiplied by the average foreign exchange rates used to translate the comparable results for each month in the prior year period (including the period over period impact of foreign currency revenue hedging activities). The difference between the current period reported U.S. dollar revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit and the derived current period U.S. dollar revenue, revenue per piece and operating profit is the period over period impact of currency fluctuations.

The year-over-year comparisons of our financial results are affected by the following items (in millions):

These items have been excluded from comparisons of "adjusted" compensation and benefits, operating expenses, operating profit, operating margin, income tax expense and effective tax rate in the discussion that follows. The income tax effects of the mark-to-market charges are calculated by multiplying the statutory tax rates applicable in each tax jurisdiction, including the U.S. federal jurisdiction and various U.S. state and non-U.S. jurisdictions, by the adjustments. The blended average of the applicable statutory tax rates in 2017 , 2016 and 2015 were 24.1%, 36.9% and 33.1%, respectively.

Defined Benefit Plans Mark-to-Market Charges

We recognize changes in the fair value of plan assets and net actuarial gains and losses in excess of a 10% corridor for our pension and postretirement defined benefit plans immediately as part of net periodic benefit cost. We supplement the presentation of our operating profit and operating margin with "adjusted" measures that exclude the impact of the portion of net periodic benefit cost represented by the gains and losses recognized in excess of the 10% corridor and the related income tax effects.

The adjustments made to exclude these mark-to-market adjustments utilize the expected return on plan assets ($2.956, $2.580 and $2.567 billion for 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively) and the discount rates used for determining net periodic benefit cost. The non-adjusted net periodic benefit cost reflects the actual return on plan assets ($4.811 billion, $1.846 billion and $110 million for 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively) and the discount rates used for measuring the projected benefit obligation as summarized in the table below. We believe excluding these mark-to-market charges from our adjusted results provides important supplemental information that reflects the anticipated long-term cost of our defined benefit plans and provides a benchmark for historical defined benefit cost trends that may provide a useful comparison of year-to-year financial performance without considering the short-term impact of changes in market interest rates, equity prices and similar factors.

In 2017 , we recognized pre-tax mark-to-market losses in compensation and benefits expense of $800 million on our pension and postretirement defined benefit plans related to the remeasurement of plan assets and liabilities recognized outside of a 10% corridor. These charges impacted our U.S. Domestic Package segment ($637 million), International Package segment ($35 million) and Supply Chain & Freight segment ($128 million).

In 2016 , we recognized pre-tax mark-to-market losses in compensation and benefits expense of $2.651 billion on our pension and postretirement defined benefit plans related to the remeasurement of plan assets and liabilities recognized outside of a 10% corridor. These charges impacted our U.S. Domestic Package segment ($1.908 billion), International Package segment ($425 million) and Supply Chain & Freight segment ($318 million).

In 2015 , we recognized pre-tax mark-to-market losses in compensation and benefits expense of $118 million on our pension and postretirement defined benefit plans related to the remeasurement of plan assets and liabilities recognized outside of a 10% corridor. These charges impacted our U.S. Domestic Package segment ($62 million), International Package segment ($44 million) and Supply Chain & Freight segment ($12 million).

The table below indicates the amounts associated with each component of the pre-tax mark-to-market losses, as well as the weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine our net periodic benefit costs, for each year:

The $800 million, $2.651 billion and $118 million pre-tax mark-to-market losses for the years ended December 31, 2017 , 2016 and 2015 , respectively, were comprised of the following components:

2017 - $800 million pre-tax mark-to-market loss:

2016 - $2.651 billion pre-tax mark-to-market loss:

2015 - $118 million pre-tax mark-to-market loss:

Income Tax Benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

We supplement the presentation of our income tax expense and effective tax rate with "adjusted" measures that exclude the impact of the income tax benefit from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") described in the "Income Tax Expense" section of Management's Discussion and Analysis and note 13 to the audited consolidated financial statements. We believe income tax expense and the effective tax rate excluding the tax benefit is useful in evaluating our ongoing operating performance for the current period to that of other periods presented. The estimates are based on our initial analysis and interpretations of the Tax Act.

Expense Allocations

Certain operating expenses are allocated between our reporting segments using activity-based costing methods. These activity-based costing methods require us to make estimates that impact the amount of each expense category that is attributed to each segment. Changes in these estimates will directly impact the amount of expense allocated to each segment, and therefore the operating profit of each reporting segment. Our allocation methodologies are refined periodically, as necessary, to reflect changes in our businesses. There were no significant changes in our expense allocation methodologies during 2017 , 2016 or 2015 .

U.S. Domestic Package Operations

Revenue

The change in overall revenue was impacted by the following factors for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 , compared with the corresponding prior year periods:

Volume

2017 compared to 2016

Our overall volume increased across all products in 2017, largely due to continued growth in overall retail sales, of which e-commerce continues to represent a larger percentage of the total growth. Business-to-consumer shipments, which represented more than 50% of total U.S. Domestic Package volume, grew 9.3% for the year, which drove increases in both air and ground shipments. Business-to-business shipments decreased slightly in 2017 compared to 2016 largely due to declines in volume in professional services, as a result of increased digitization, and high tech industries.

Among our air products, volume increased in 2017 for our Next Day Air and Deferred services. Solid air volume growth continued for those products most aligned with business-to-consumer shipping, including our residential Next Day Air, Next Day Air Saver and Three Day Select package products, as consumers continue to demand faster options. This growth was slightly offset by a decline in Next Day Air letter volume, largely due to declines in the professional services industry as a result of continued growth in digitization.

The increase in ground volume in 2017 was driven by growth in residential ground and SurePost volume, which benefited from continued e-commerce demand. Business-to-business shipments decreased slightly due to adverse weather conditions in third quarter 2017 however this decrease was partially offset by an increase in our return shipping services.

2016 compared to 2015

Our total volume increased across all products in 2016, largely due to continued growth in e-commerce and overall retail sales and the impact of one additional operating day. Business-to-consumer shipments, which represented more than 48% of total U.S. Domestic Package volume, grew nearly 9% for the year and 11.5% in the fourth quarter, which drove increases in both air and ground shipments. Business-to-business volume remained flat in 2016 due to revenue management initiatives and the overall slowing of the industrial manufacturing sector, offset by increased volume from the retail industry, including the use of our solutions for omni-channel (including ship-from-store and ship-to-store models) and returns shipping.

Next Day Air volume increased 5.2% in 2016, due to strong growth in e-commerce. We also experienced increased volume for our deferred air services in 2016, particularly for those products most aligned with business-to-consumer shipping, such as our residential Second Day Air Package and Three Day Select products partially offset by decreases in our business-to-business deferred air volume.

The increase in ground volume in 2016 was driven by growth in residential ground and SurePost volume while business-to-business shipments remained flat. Accelerating growth in e-commerce drove demand for our SurePost service, with volume increasing 19% in 2016.

Rates and Product Mix

2017 compared to 2016

Overall revenue per piece increased 2.5% in 2017, and was impacted by changes in base rates, customer and product mix and fuel surcharge rates.

Revenue per piece for ground and air products was positively impacted by a base rate increase on December 26, 2016. UPS Ground rates and UPS Air services rates increased an average net 4.9%. Effective January 8, 2017, we changed the dimensional weight calculation for packages subject to UPS daily rates. On June 19, 2017, we announced a new peak charge applicable during selected weeks in November and December 2017 for U.S. Residential, Large Packages and packages Over Maximum Limits. The new charge is designed to enable UPS to continue to offset some of the additional expenses incurred during significant volume surges. Additionally on October 25, 2017, we announced an average 4.9% base rate increase effective December 24, 2017 for UPS Ground and UPS Air services.

In the first quarter of 2017, we began our expanded Saturday ground operations to several metropolitan areas in the U.S. As of December 2017, Saturday service is available in approximately 4,700 cities and towns in the U.S. covering approximately 50% of the population. A Saturday pickup stop charge went into effect on May 1, 2017 and varies depending on the pickup service selected.

Revenue per piece for our Next Day Air services decreased in 2017 compared with 2016. The decrease in Next Day Air revenue per piece was primarily driven by a shift in product mix, as our lower yielding products experienced much larger volume growth than our higher yielding products. This shift was offset slightly by an increase in the average billable weight per piece. Revenue per piece of our deferred air services increased in 2017 compared with 2016. Deferred revenue per piece increased primarily due to an increase in average billable weight per piece, but was partially offset by an unfavorable shift in product mix. All products were positively impacted by higher fuel surcharge rates for 2017.

Ground revenue per piece increased in 2017, primarily due to base rate increases, higher fuel surcharge rates and an increase in average billable weight per piece. These factors were partially offset by changes in product mix, as we experienced faster volume growth in our SurePost product.

2016 compared to 2015

Overall revenue per piece decreased 0.3% in 2016, and was impacted by changes in base rates, customer and product mix and fuel surcharge rates.

Ground revenue per piece decreased in 2016, primarily due to customer and product mix changes, which adversely impacted revenue per piece as a greater portion of volume in 2016, relative to 2015, came from residential customers and lighter-weight shipments as SurePost volume surged. Additionally, lower fuel surcharge rates contributed to the decline. These drivers more than offset the rate actions taken since the fourth quarter of 2015.

Revenue per piece for Next Day Air products declined in 2016, while our deferred air products increased. All products were negatively impacted by lower fuel surcharge rates. The Next Day Air revenue per piece decline was caused by a shift in customer and product mix as well as an increase in lighter-weight packages. We experienced relatively stronger growth in our lighter-weight business-to-consumer shipments, particularly our Next Day Air Saver product, which have lower average yields than our heavier-weight commercial shipments. Customer mix also adversely impacted Next Day Air revenue per piece, due to faster volume growth among our larger customers, which have a lower average yield than our small and middle-market customers. Deferred revenue per piece increased primarily due to heavier-weight packages partially offset by product mix.

Revenue per piece for ground and air products was positively impacted by a base rate increase on December 28, 2015. UPS Ground rates and accessorial charges increased an average net 4.9%, while UPS Air services and accessorial charges increased an average net 5.2%. The surcharge increased for Over Maximum Packages and the index tables for the Ground and Air fuel surcharges were adjusted effective November 2, 2015. A charge for UPS's Third-Party Billing Service was implemented, effective January 4, 2016. Additionally, the dimensions of ground packages incurring the UPS Additional Handling charge were changed effective June 6, 2016.

Fuel Surcharges

UPS applies a fuel surcharge on our domestic air and ground services. The air fuel surcharge is based on the U.S. Department of Energy's ("DOE") Gulf Coast spot price for a gallon of kerosene-type jet fuel, while the ground fuel surcharge is based on the DOE's On-Highway Diesel Fuel Price. Based on published rates, the average fuel surcharge rates for domestic air and ground products were as follows:

Effective February 6, 2017, the U.S. fuel surcharge rates are reset weekly instead of monthly. In addition, the price indices have moved from a two month to a two week lag.

Total domestic fuel surcharge revenue increased by $347 million in 2017 as a result of higher fuel surcharge rates caused by an increase in jet and diesel fuel prices, as well as an overall increase in package volume. In addition to the factors above, fuel surcharge revenue was positively impacted by changes to the fuel surcharge calculation, as rates and price indices are updated more frequently to better align with prevailing market rates. In 2016, total fuel surcharge revenue decreased by $219 million as a result of lower fuel surcharge rates caused by declining jet and diesel fuel prices, partially offset by the overall increase in package volume for the period.

Operating Expenses

2017 compared to 2016

Operating expenses for the period increased $1.2 billion, which included a $1.3 billion decrease in mark-to-market pension charges. Excluding the impact of the defined benefit plan mark-to-market charges, adjusted operating expenses for the segment increased $2.5 billion in 2017, primarily due to pickup and delivery costs (up $1.0 billion), the cost of operating our domestic integrated air and ground network (up $922 million), the costs of package sorting (up $246 million) and accessorials and indirect operating costs (up $279 million). These increases were driven primarily by overall volume growth in 2017. Adjusted operating expenses were impacted by several factors:

Total cost per piece decreased 0.3% in 2017 compared to 2016 and was primarily impacted by a 380 basis point decrease due to the defined benefit plan mark-to-market charge offset by the cost increases described previously. The increased expenses in 2017 were also driven by: capacity constraints due to volume surges in the fourth quarter of 2017, start-up costs of several investments underway to further expand and modernize our air and ground networks, and the costs of implementing Saturday operations. Costs were further impacted by rising fuel prices. In order to contain costs, we continually adjust our air and ground networks to better match higher volume levels. In addition, we continue to deploy and utilize technology to increase package sorting and delivery productivity.

2016 compared to 2015

Operating expenses for the period increased $3.3 billion, which included a $1.8 billion increase in mark-to-market pension charges. Excluding the impact of the defined benefit plan mark-to-market charges, adjusted operating expenses for the segment increased $1.5 billion in 2016, primarily due to pickup and delivery costs (up $814 million), the cost of operating our domestic integrated air and ground transportation network (up $282 million), the costs of package sorting (up $181 million) and accessorials and indirect operating costs (up $180 million). Adjusted operating expenses were impacted by several factors:

Total cost per piece increased 5.5% in 2016 compared to 2015 and was primarily impacted by a 540 basis point increase due to the defined benefit plan mark-to-market charge and the cost increases described previously. These increases were partially offset by the continued deployment of ORION, which has contained the growth of average daily vehicle miles driven, and the increased redirect of SurePost volume to optimize delivery density on UPS vehicles, which has reduced the delivery costs for business-to-consumer shipments.

Operating Profit and Margin

2017 compared to 2016

Operating profit increased $1.3 billion in 2017 compared with 2016, primarily due to a $1.3 billion decrease in mark-to-market pension charges to operating expense. Operating margin increased 260 basis points to 10.5%. Adjusted operating profit decreased $8 million in 2017 compared with 2016, while the adjusted operating margin decreased 80 basis points to 12.1%. Operating profit was negatively impacted by an increase in continued investments in new buildings and new strategic investments including deployment of Saturday operations. There was an adverse impact from higher purchased transportation costs due to volume surges in the fourth quarter 2017 and from fuel as expense increased at a faster pace than fuel surcharge revenue.

2016 compared to 2015

Operating profit decreased $1.8 billion in 2016 compared with 2015, primarily due to a $1.8 billion increase in mark-to-market pension charges to operating expense. Operating margin decreased 510 basis points to 7.9%. Adjusted operating profit increased $96 million in 2016 compared with 2015, while the adjusted operating margin decreased 20 basis points to 12.9%. Revenue growth from increased volume and enhanced productivity through the continued deployment of ORION technology resulted in higher operating profit, but was offset by an unfavorable shift in customer and product mix, especially in the fourth quarter. The net impact of fuel also negatively impacted operating profit as fuel surcharge revenue decreased faster than fuel expense.

International Package Operations

Revenue

The change in overall revenue was impacted by the following factors for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 , compared with the corresponding prior year periods:

Volume

2017 compared to 2016

Our overall average daily volume increased in 2017, largely due to continued strength in business-to-consumer volume, as well as strong demand from several sectors including retail, industrial manufacturing, high-tech and healthcare.

We continued to experience export volume growth in 2017. The growth was mainly driven by our European, Asian and U.S. operations, which experienced increases in volume to major trade lanes of the world. European export volume increased in 2017, with growth in all trade lanes. Asia export volume also increased in 2017, with particular strength in Asia-to-U.S., Asia-to-Americas and intra-Asia trade lanes. Export volume into the U.S. grew in all trade lanes, led by Europe and the Americas. Export volume growth was strong across all major products, with a continued shift towards our premium express products, such as Worldwide Express and Transborder Express services.

The increase in domestic growth in 2017 was primarily due to growth in Turkey, Germany, France, Italy and U.K.

2016 compared to 2015

Our overall average daily volume increased in 2016, largely due to continued strength in business-to-consumer volume, as well as strong demand from several sectors including retail, industrial manufacturing, high-tech and healthcare.

We continued to experience export volume growth in 2016. The growth was mainly driven by our European and Asian operations, which experienced increases in volume to all regions of the world. European export volume increased in 2016, with particular strength in the Europe-to-U.S. and intra-Europe trade lanes. Asia export volume also increased in 2016, with growth in all trade lanes. However, U.S. export volume declined largely due to the impact of the stronger U.S. Dollar. Export volume growth was distributed across all products led by our Worldwide Express product.

The increase in domestic volume in 2016 was primarily due to growth in Italy, France, Turkey and Mexico.

Rates and Product Mix

2017 compared to 2016

Total average revenue per piece decreased 0.4% in 2017, impacted by a 250 basis point reduction from currency and a shift in product mix. These factors were partially offset by an increase in fuel surcharge rates as well as an increase in base rates.

On December 26, 2016, we implemented an average 4.9% net increase in base and accessorial rates for international shipments originating in the United States. Rate changes for shipments originating outside the U.S. are made throughout the year and vary by geographic markets. Effective September 17, 2017, a peak surcharge was applied to any shipment originating from China or Hong Kong to the United States for certain service levels during the peak period. The surcharge was applied as a rate per pound based upon the billable weight of the shipment. Additionally, on October 25, 2017, we announced an average 4.9% net increase in base and accessorial rates for international shipping originating in the United States; changes became effective on December 24, 2017.

Export revenue per piece decreased 5.6% in 2017, impacted by a 320 basis point reduction from currency and product mix. This was partially offset by an increase in fuel surcharges, an increase in base rates and strong volume growth in premium products.

Domestic revenue per piece increased 3.9% in 2017, impacted by a 50 basis point increase from currency, increase in base rates and higher fuel surcharges.

2016 compared to 2015

Total average revenue per piece decreased 2.0% in 2016, impacted by a 110 basis point reduction from currency as well as lower fuel surcharge rates. These factors were partially offset by an increase in base rates, lower discounts and a shift in product mix as the growth in premium products continued to exceed the growth in our standard products.

On December 28, 2015, we implemented an average 5.2% net increase in base and accessorial rates for international shipments originating in the United States (Worldwide Express, Worldwide Saver, UPS Worldwide Expedited and UPS International Standard service). On November 2, 2015, the surcharge increased for Over Maximum Packages and the tables for Ground, Air and International fuel surcharges were adjusted. Rate changes for shipments originating outside the U.S. are made throughout the year and vary by geographic market.

Export revenue per piece decreased 2.3% in 2016, impacted by a 50 basis point reduction from currency as well as lower fuel surcharge rates. These factors were partially offset by an increase in base rates, lower discounts and favorable package weight and characteristics.

Domestic revenue per piece decreased 3.5% in 2016, impacted by a 380 basis point reduction from currency as well as lower fuel surcharge rates. These factors were partially offset by an increase in base rates.

Fuel Surcharges

We maintain fuel surcharges on our international air and ground services. The fuel surcharges for international air products originating inside or outside the United States are indexed to the DOE's Gulf Coast spot price for a gallon of kerosene-type jet fuel, while the fuel surcharges for ground products originating outside the United States are indexed to fuel prices in the international region or country where the shipment takes place.

Total international fuel surcharge revenue increased by $325 million in 2017, primarily due to volume increases, higher fuel prices and pricing changes made to base freight rates and to the fuel surcharge indices from a two month lag to a two week lag. Total international fuel surcharge revenue decreased by $119 million in 2016, primarily due to price reductions in the fuel surcharge indices; however, this was partially offset by an increase in volume and changes in mix.

Operating Expenses

2017 compared to 2016

Overall operating expenses increased by $568 million, which included a $390 million decrease in mark-to-market pension charges. Excluding the impact of the defined benefit plan mark-to-market charges, adjusted operating expenses for the segment increased $958 million in 2017 primarily due to increased volumes, higher fuel usage and currency fluctuations.

Operating expenses were impacted by changes in the cost of operating our international integrated air and ground network, which increased $418 million, as well as pickup and delivery costs, which increased $280 million. The increase in network costs was largely driven by volume growth in our Express products, which drove a 3.0% increase in aircraft block hours and higher fuel usage. Additionally, the increase in pickup and delivery costs is due to increased volume. Operating expenses were also impacted in 2017 by a $260 million increase in indirect overhead and package sorting costs and other costs.

2016 compared to 2015

Overall operating expenses increased by $294 million, which included a $381 million increase in mark-to-market pension charges. Excluding the impact of the defined benefit plan mark-to-market charges, adjusted operating expenses for the segment decreased $87 million in 2016 primarily due to currency exchange rate movements and lower fuel expense.

Operating expenses were impacted by changes in the cost of operating our international integrated air and ground network, which decreased $40 million, as well as pickup and delivery costs, which decreased $143 million. The decreases in network and pickup and delivery costs were largely due to the impact of currency exchange rate movements and lower fuel expense. Network cost reductions were somewhat offset by an increase in aircraft block hours (up 1.2% in 2016), driven by a 5.1% increase in international export volume and continuing air product service enhancements.

Operating expenses were also impacted in 2016 by a $96 million increase in indirect overhead, package sorting costs and other gains and losses. The total cost per piece for the segment decreased 1.8% in 2016.

Operating Profit and Margin

2017 compared to 2016

Operating profit increased $420 million in 2017 compared with 2016, which included a $390 million decrease in operating expenses due to mark-to-market pension adjustments. Operating margin increased 190 basis points to 18.5%. Adjusted operating profit increased by $30 million in 2017, while the adjusted operating margin decreased 130 basis points to 18.7%. Operating margin was affected by negative currency exchange movements due to volatility of both hedged and unhedged currencies. Included in adjusted operating profit is a $375 million decrease due to currency.

2016 compared to 2015

Operating profit decreased $93 million in 2016 compared with 2015, which included a $381 million increase in operating expenses due to mark-to-market pension adjustments. Operating margin decreased 100 basis points to 16.6%. Adjusted operating profit increased by $288 million in 2016, while the adjusted operating margin increased 200 basis points to 20.0%. Operating profit and margin were positively affected by several factors including base rate increases, modifications to the fuel surcharge indices and currency exchange rate movements (including currency hedging gains).

Supply Chain & Freight Operations