Expeditors' closest U.S. competitor is Houston's Eagle Global Logistics, with a 10% return on capital.
But even at this stage it feels a little too blue-sky for the very earthbound arena of global logistics.
And Deutsche Post, with 60, 000 unsackable civil servants on its payroll, has prospered by turning into a global logistics firm.
The Postal Service would also be freed up to seek new revenue by forming alliances with global logistics and courier companies.
Mr Mehdorn is spurred by the example of Deutsche Post, whose McKinsey-bred management has turned it from a sleepy sorting office into a global logistics firm.
Perhaps if it were ambitious enough it could follow Google and Amazon by using its own global logistics experience as a platform for third party products.
Slipstream the backroom with the same steady-freddy technologies that manage the global logistics of moving packages, inventory and other boxed and enveloped stuff at UPS, Walmart, Target and elsewhere.
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Germany's post -- now Deutsche Post DHL -- was privatized in 2005 and has become a major player in the global delivery and logistics business.
In Germany, where Deutsche Bahn is roaring ahead with its express trains and its global freight and logistics business, many managers came from Lufthansa, bringing airline techniques.
Public policy played a critical role in planning the right roads, rail lines and ports that positioned Chicago as a global transportation and logistics hub 50 years ago.
After establishing its expertise as a global provider of logistics services involving vehicle shipments, the company has reached into other industries: steel, machinery, heavy chemicals, energy, construction and consumer goods.
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But something else happened that was unforeseen: a realization within the company that its maturing "brown operations, " marvelous as they were in delivering 13 million packages every business day, were not enough to compete in an industry that was transitioning into a global, knowledge-based logistics business.
The company owns a variety of global businesses that include food, logistics and flavoring products.
New Zealand Post has become a successful, innovative global company focusing on parcel delivery, logistics and other businesses.
Glovis is working on expanding its third-party logistics business in both domestic and global markets.
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OsComp recently formed a strategic alliance with Global Partners LP, a publicly traded energy logistics and marketing master limited partnership based in Waltham, Mass.
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Global distribution can be economically fulfilled by opening a Web site and a logistics company.
Improving distribution logistics may seem like an odd and un-sexy way to stop a global health epidemic.
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The huge trading and logistics operation, backed by a savvy business-intelligence unit, has a global presence in a vast array of commodities that far exceeds that of rivals such as Cargill or Trafigura.
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