UPS Prepared for Surge in Holiday Package Shipping

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UPS’s (NYSE: UPS) long-standing role as Santa’s busiest helper will continue this holiday season with projected package volume swelling from roughly 15 million packages a day to more than 21 million on the busiest day.

“These increases in daily package volume would overwhelm other networks, but UPS has the experience, technology and infrastructure to handle the surge with the highest levels of reliability”

On UPS’s Peak Day, which will occur this year on Wednesday, Dec. 20, UPS will deliver 240 packages every second through its worldwide ground and air network. Just two days later on Dec. 22, UPS will handle its largest volume of air shipments for the year by delivering roughly 5.6 million packages. That amounts to more than double the normal average for air volume.

“These increases in daily package volume would overwhelm other networks, but UPS has the experience, technology and infrastructure to handle the surge with the highest levels of reliability,” said Kurt Kuehn, senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. “We start planning for the holidays in January because we know we’ll have millions of customers counting on us.”

This year, UPS and various retail analysts are predicting strong growth in the online shopping world along with solid gains in the brick-and-mortar arena. UPS enters the holiday peak – defined as the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas – as the primary shipper for 21 of the top 25 e-retailers as ranked by Internet Retailer Magazine.

In the process of delivering all those holiday packages, UPS will apply its tracking technology to make it easy for customers to monitor the movement of their gifts. UPS expects more than 130 million online tracking requests during Peak Week and the daily total could exceed 25 million on Peak Day.

To accommodate the intense holiday surge, UPS once again will become one of the holiday season’s top employers of choice, adding roughly 60,000 seasonal workers. In addition, UPS’s ground delivery fleet of 91,700 package cars, vans and tractors will increase by more than 7,000 vehicles and the UPS Airlines, the world’s eighth largest, will add 31 large jets for the period.

UPS’s retail network, including 5,700 The UPS Store® and Mail Boxes Etc.® locations worldwide, will offer customers access to specially trained and certified packaging experts who can make gift-giving easier and more efficient. UPS recommends that shippers with questions about proper packaging techniques, package insurance and shipping options rely on the experts at their neighborhood The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. location.

An online store locator is available at theUPSStore.com or mbe.com to find location information, details on products and services, hours of operation, directions and maps. This year, The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc.® once again have joined hands with Marine Toys for Tots and are working to raise $1 million through in-store sales of donation cards.

For the do-it-yourselfer, UPS offers an Internet shipping option at UPS.com. This portal allows customers to indicate service preferences, pay by credit card, print shipping labels and track packages. Once the label has been placed on the package, a customer can hand it to any UPS driver, arrange for a special pick-up or drop it off at any of UPS’s 70,000 shipping locations.

Procrastinators can ship holiday packages as late as Dec. 21 using UPS’s standard air services. In many locations, packages can be shipped as late as Dec. 22 for Saturday delivery for an additional charge. For more information, view the holiday shipping calendar.

From around the corner to more than 200 countries and territories across the globe, UPS has been delivering holiday cheer for more than 99 years. In the United States, UPS offers convenient access in every neighborhood. To find the nearest UPS location or additional holiday packing and shipping information, visit The UPSStore.com, www.UPS.com/holiday, or call 1-800-PICK-UPS.

Editor’s Note:

The UPS Corporate Public Relations team is ready to help with your holiday coverage. For the latest holiday facts and figures, packaging and shipping tips, local angles or any other information needed to complete your stories, contact UPS Corporate Public Relations at [phone] or visit www.pressroom.ups.com.