The Great Package Race, a project conducted by students at the Georgia Institute of Technology, challenges parcel carriers to see who can deliver packages to a specific location the fastest. This year, the goal was to get packages to Santa in the North Pole.
DHL Express was the winner, beating out its fellow competitors by at least a full day. The other companies participating in the contest were UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service, according to the Great Package Race website.
Under the direction of Professor John Bartholdi, the students loaded up packages containing Georgia-Tech-branded items such as T-shirts (extra large for Santa), baseball hats and coffee mugs, which were sent out on Dec. 13 with the official home of Santa – Rovaniemi, Finland, which is five miles (eight kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle – as the final destination.
“DHL got off to a very fast start and seemed to stay at least one hop ahead of the competition,” Georgia Tech students observed on the Great Package Race website. “Their package was already in Helsinki by Sunday night, Dec. 15, Atlanta time. At this time, the others were only known to have departed their main sortation facilities in the U.S.”
Sending the package via DHL included six transfers. The package arrived at Santa’s doorstep on Dec. 17.
“We really admire Professor Bartholdi’s creativity in designing a fun activity which is helping to shape and inform the next generation of logistics leaders,” Ian Clough, CEO of DHL Express U.S., said. “No one knows the world like we do, and this contest is another validation of the world-class service of DHL and our expertise in international express delivery.”