Not long ago, some people offered predictions of doom and gloom about how fax machines would impact the shipping business.
Today, such statements bring a wry smile to Steven L. Nelson, president and CEO of Unishippers, as his company continues to add new franchises.Unishippers, 2595 E. 3000 South, increased shipments by a healthy 30 percent in 1997. Moreover, the company, with 298 franchises spread throughout 50 states, is looking to expand to England and Japan.
This isn't a bad record for a company in business for just 10 years and directed Nelson, who originally started in the condominium and storage-building business and admits he knew nothing about the shipping business until 1987.
Unishippers has achieved success in spite of fax machines and other sophisticated means of transporting documents. For Uni-shippers franchises, the trend is for businesses to ship documents, birthday presents, live organs for transplant, hazardous materials and many other items that go by air.
United Shippers was doing about $250,000 worth of business monthly in 1987 when Nelson went to Airborne Express and received a five-year contract and later an 18-year contract.
Because the size of shipments vary, Unishippers' franchises also ship via Pilot Air Freight, BAX Global, Sky Courier, Mailfast, TNT Express Worldwide and Viking Freight.
A year ago, Robert G. Brazier, president of Airborne express, wrote to Nelson and said Unishippers was his largest domestic customer with $70 million in 1996. That is expected to exceed $100 million in 1998.
Nelson said all of the franchisees are expected to gross $200 million this year. Unishippers has 35 employees in the Salt Lake office, 600 employees nationally and 350 people on the streets selling discounts to businesses for shipping items.