The nation’s major shipping
companies are in the best shape to get holiday shoppers’ packages delivered on
time since the start of the pandemic, suggesting a return to normalcy.
Carriers like the U.S. Postal
Service, FedEx and United Parcel Service project to have enough capacity after
struggling under the holiday crush for the past two years, when many people
hunkered down at home and turned to online shopping.
The system is already being put to
the test ahead of big shopping days on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, when
retailers entice shoppers with bargains. Amazon held a second Prime Day in
October to jumpstart early holiday sales, but some shoppers are still holding
out for deals in the coming days.
Brie Carere, chief customer care
officer at FedEx, told The Associated Press she's not worried: “The network is
running the best that it has since COVID. We’re confident and ready.”
There are several factors at play:
Consumers have gotten an early start, done more shopping in stores and moderated
spending because of inflationary pressures, thus reducing shipping volume and
spreading out shipments over a longer period. An extra shipping day between
Thanksgiving and Christmas helps, too.
The outlook could be a win for
carriers who need fewer temporary workers, retailers who face fewer peak
surcharges, and shoppers whose gifts are more likely to be delivered on time,
said Satish Jindel, president of Pennsylvania-based ShipMatrix.
The overall optimism represents a
sharp contrast to holiday seasons in 2020 and 2021 when more everyday items
were shipped during the pandemic, supply chain problems were a concern, and
shipping companies struggled to keep up.
Carriers that reached their
capacity limit dumped their excess parcels on the struggling U.S. Postal
Service in 2020, when more than a third of Postal Service first-class mail was
late by the time Christmas arrived. Back then, the Postal Service battled
through despite thousands of quarantined workers.
Performance improved last year. And
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the situation is even better now, with the
installation of 137 new package-sorting machines ahead of the holiday season,
bringing the total to 249 additional package-processing machines since March
2021.
That boosts the Postal Service's
daily package processing ability to 60 million, and staffing improvements
allowed the Postal Service to reduce seasonal hiring by half.
“Our customers and the American
people should feel confident in the service we will provide for the holiday
season,” he said.
All told, shipping companies are
projected to have excess capacity of 10 million to 20 million parcels beyond
what’s needed each day at peak shipping time, providing a buffer and lowering
peak surcharges, Jindel said.
And they continue to line up extra
workers to help with peak demand. Amazon, which operates its own fleet of
delivery vehicles, said it's once again hiring 150,000 employees for full-time,
part-time and seasonal roles in the United States. United Parcel Service
planned to hire upward of 100,000 seasonal workers to get over the hump while
stressing that it’s still a good idea to avoid waiting to the last minute.
“Shopping, buying and shipping
early continue to be important to avoid the busiest times of peak season,” said
UPS spokesperson Jim Mayer.
By DAVID SHARP