For FedEx Ground and Express, some 8.5 million packages are expected to move through the network on December 12, an increase of 40% from its daily average volume of 6 million. That figure represents 400,000 more packages than for the holiday’s busiest day last year.
Overall online retail sales for the final three months of this year are expected to be 22% greater than last year, translating into expenditures of approximately $26 billion. “With consumers spending more time online, e-commerce will likely drive more holiday activity this season than in the past,” claims FedEx economist, Gene Huang.
Working through the holiday shipping season for FedEx are more than 250,000 employees and contractors, 674 planes and 70,000 vehicles.
Peak Day for UPS is Tuesday, December 20, when the carrier will be delivering 20 million packages. That’s a rate of 230 per second. The next day is no slouch, either. That’s when UPS delivery of air express packages will reach the highest level for the holiday period, with an estimated global volume of 5 million packages, which is 250% of normal averages.