UPS Enhances Automation (But Still Won't Automate Refunds)

UPS parcels just got smarter. In the January 27, 2026, UPS Q4 2025 Earnings Call, Carol Tomé, UPS CEO & Director, announced that the carrier has “deployed Smart Package Smart Facility, our RFID labeling solution, to 5,500 UPS store locations, and completed installing RFID readers in all US package cars.”

With this new technology, the carrier processes 1.3 million packages with RFID labeling through UPS stores every day.

Learn more about how UPS is using this technology, how you can benefit from it, and how to get refunds when automated parcels aren’t delivered according to the carrier’s service guarantee.

Smart Package Smart Facility Initiative Deploys RFID Labels and Sensors

Despite shrinking its network due to the wind-down of its partnership with Amazon, UPS is making strategic investments to grow its revenue. One of those investments is in automations. By the end of 2025, 66.5% of its volume was processed through automated facilities. This year, it aims to increase that number to 68%.

Tomé describes the new Smart Package Smart Facility initiative as “moving from a scanning to a sensing network,” with the aim of improving productivity and reducing misloads and defects. To achieve this, UPS installed RFID sensors (smart facilities) in all cars and applied RFID labels to parcels sent from UPS stores (smart packages). Smart Package Smart Facilities reduces the number of manual scans needed, while ensuring an accurate list of items loaded.

Automation Benefits for UPS Customers

With higher levels of transparency and shipment visibility, Tomé says UPS is investing in capabilities that are wins for the carrier. But are they wins for customers, too?

Charles Cawthorn, Strategic Lead at UPS, shared how customers benefit from the new intelligent technology, saying that it “helped us keep performance levels strong during the holiday season, even when global supply chains were strained by port congestion.” He said, “Using predictive models, we rerouted shipments away from those high-demand bottlenecks and into alternative hubs.”

In theory, these new capabilities should lead to fewer mistakes and higher on-time delivery rates.

Service Guarantee Refunds: Still Not Automated

As UPS collects more data on parcels, automating refunds promised by its service guarantee should be easy. UPS boasts increased levels of transparency with RFID technology, after all. Instead, the carrier continues to place the onus on its clients to discover and request refunds. Why? Unclaimed refunds amount to approximately $2 billion every year. Automating refunds would put a stop to this unearned revenue stream.

Instead of simply accepting the inevitable loss of money on service failures, sign up for parcel audits with ShipRx. Signing up for the service is free, and you only pay a percentage of the money refunded by the carriers.

Our parcel audit software checks over 40 factors on every shipment you send to discover service failures and incorrect charges. Then, we’ll work with the carriers on your behalf to submit claims and follow up on refunds.

Sign up for a free savings analysis today, and start seeing money back as soon as your next invoice.