UPS to require photo IDs for shipping packages

NEW YORK – UPS is now requiring photo identification from customers shipping packages at retail locations around the world, a month after explosives made it on to one of the company's planes.

The Atlanta-based package courier said Tuesday the move is part of an ongoing review to enhance security. The directive will apply at The UPS Store, Mail Boxes Etc. locations and other authorized shipping outlets.

UPS customer centers have required government-issued photo identification since 2005.

In late October, a printer cartridge on a UPS cargo plane bound for Chicago was stopped in London after explosives were discovered. The package was later traced to a retail location in Yemen.

The stepped-up security also comes as UPS prepares for its busiest shipping day of the year. United Parcel Service expects to deliver 430 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and 24 million packages alone on its busiest day, projected to be Dec. 22. That's up 60 percent from a normal day.

"Since retail centers experience a significant increase in business from occasional shippers during the busy holidays, this enhancement adds a prudent step in our multi-layered approach to security," UPS Vice President of small business and retail marketing Dale Hayes said in a statement.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101207/...ced_security_2

I wonder if that will apply to people with existing UPS accounts that preprint their labels. I see a lot of unhappy customers, if it does; as the time invested in dropping off packages will be increased significantly

Originally Posted by hhmoore

I wonder if that will apply to people with existing UPS accounts that preprint their labels. I see a lot of unhappy customers, if it does; as the time invested in dropping off packages will be increased significantly

It doesn't specify, but it wouldn't surprise me. I'm sure if you use the same drop off location though, and they know you, you wouldn't be required to show it every time you went whether it was required or not.

It just seems stupid to me, punish the thousands of American users with this extra hoop to jump through all due to one incident that occurred in Yemen. You'd think the government was running UPS now.

According to UPS' internal releases it does not apply to pre-printed labels, i.e., from those of us that have an account.