Not only does UPS expects to handle more than 21 million packages worldwide on the peak day of Wednesday, December 20, what is interesting this year is an 18% jump in orders that come from online retailers. After the expected Black Friday--following Thanksgiving and putting a crush of purchasers into stores across the country—came the following Cyber Monday, when the Internet hums with buyers.
How important is reliability of package delivery? Late last year UPS commissioned a survey that found 80% of online shoppers said a positive delivery experience would likely cause them to buy from the same retailer again. The carrier expects to respond to 130 million package tracking requests during the week before Christmas.
DHL is offering greater shipment tracking this year with its recent implementation of ProView, a suite of shipment visibility and event notification tools.
With an eye on December 20 as the peak, DHL expects to deliver more than 2 million pieces on that day across the United States. To meet the demand, DHL has added 300 daily truck routes and 63 new domestic flights per week to its existing network schedules. More than 9,000 workers at DHL’s principal hub in Wilmington, Ohio will be working through the night during the peak season.
For last minute delivery of holiday packages, FedEx Express will be operating on December 23. Of particular importance for getting packages to end consumers at the last minute, FedEx Home Delivery will be open that day, as well.
Services available from the carrier throughout the year, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, are FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx SameDay and FedEx International Next Fight.
The U.S. is not alone in its movement of holiday packages. News reports from the U.K. indicate that the Royal Mail expects that it will deliver 100 million online orders this year, a leap of 30 million over last year.
