As holiday season is now upon us, the two major U.S. shippers are gearing up as e-commerce and mobile access portend a healthy economic surge this week, throughGrey Thursday, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and into full-fledged holiday shopping mania.
According to the National Retail Federation, overall holiday sales are expected to rise 4.1% compared to last year – a bellwether for the health of the economy, with electronic items, apparel, and luxury comprising a significant portion of total holiday shipping volumes.
Both UPS and FedEx have delivery contracts with most of the biggest e-tailers including Toys R Us, Kohl's, Walmart, Macy's, eBay and Amazon.
UPS (the brand formerly known as United Parcel Service) expects shipments to hit record levels up 10% from last year and plans to hire 55,000 seasonal workers, while its rival shipper Federal Express estimates it will deliver 527 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas, topping last year’s record of 480 million.
Their busiest day will be Dec. 20, with an estimated 28 million packages delivered, up from the regular 15.8 million packages daily.
FedEx, the No. 2 package delivery company, will hire 20,000 seasonal workers and expects a 13% higher volume of packages than last year.
Best access UPS services ASAP as they just announced higher shipping rates effective December 31, 2012. An average net increase of 4.5% on the rates for UPS Air and U.S.-originating International Services shipments and 6.5% base rate on UPS Air and International Services, minus a two percentage point reduction in fuel surcharges on such shipments.
UPS Ground is also raising rates, by 5.9%, mitigated by a single percentage point reduction in the fuel surcharge, resulting in an average 4.9% price hike. UPS Next Day Air Freight, Second Day Air Freight, and Three-Day Freight rates for shipments among U.S., Canadian, and Puerto Rican locations will also rise 4.9%.
UPS is inviting consumers to register for UPS My Choice, service to help avoid missed deliveries by getting advance text or email messages alerts the day before a package is scheduled to arrive, and be able to reroute or reschedule delivery for a different day. Introduced in October, 2 million people have registered so far.
“It can be frustrating to see a missed delivery notice on your front door, especially if you’re anticipating a special holiday gift,” said Myron Gray, president of U.S. operations for UPS. “UPS My Choice is an industry-leading service that gives our residential customers the confidence of knowing when their shipments will be delivered as well as the ability to change the date and location if they desire.”
The busiest day for online tracking requests according to UPS will be December 18, with 69 million online package tracking requests.
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