UPS recently released a free UPS Mobile application for the iPhone which provides a strong base feature set to users who are shipping or receiving packages. Unlike the FedEx Mobile solution, users are not required to create an account with the carrier, but it’s highly suggested so that you can take advantage of the full functionality.

Tracking
No doubt Tracking will be the primary use of this application. Creating an account allows you to see any of your shipments created on the ups.com website as well as any past shipments that were tracked.

For tracking shipments coming to you – we suggest using iPhones copy/past function on the track number from your notification email subject instead of the tracking link. (see below)

Shipping
We think the jury is still out on shipping from the iPhone, but integration with the ups.com address book will greatly simplify the need to create on-the-go shipping labels. While you can’t print from the phone, the shipping label is conveniently delivered as a PDF attachment in email which can be printed back at the desktop.

Drop Off Locator
One of the handiest features has got to be the drop off locator. It has the ability to find the closest drop off based on your current GPS location, or from a manually entered zip code. You can then narrow down your drop off selection by type. This will surely help for those times when you need some assistance boxing up your item, or finding a location that can accept your package that’s to large for a drop box.

Shipping Quote
Another handy tool is the Quick Quote. By entering in the origin and destination information along with the rate, you can quickly see time in transit or estimated cost.

Version 1.0
While we have a laundry list of features that we’d like to see added or enhanced, this truly is a very solid v1.0 release. As of this posting, the App store currently rates the app at 3.5 stars from just 279 ratings, however posted feedback is very complimentary. Based on the fact that FedEx Mobile for the iPhone has almost 13,000 customer ratings, it seems that there is a lot of customer demand for robust functionality from mobile devices. USPS is expected to release a iPhone application in the upcoming weeks, so the race is on!

Congratulations to the UPS mobile team!