UPS Forecasts Another Record-Breaking Holiday Shipping Season
27 October 2017 - 12:30AM
- UPS forecasts record holiday delivery of about 750 million
packages
- Deliveries between Black Friday and New Year’s Eve projected to
increase 5% from 2016
- 17 of 21 holiday delivery days before Christmas to exceed 30
million packages
- Investment in facilities, advanced operational and customer
technologies, and seasonal hires ready UPS network to handle nearly
double normal daily volume
UPS (NYSE:UPS) plans to deliver more than 750 million packages
globally in the 25 days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.
The record-breaking seasonal global delivery volume is
approximately 5 percent above last year’s holiday peak shipping
season volume. Of the 21 holiday delivery days before December 25,
17 are expected to exceed 30 million delivered packages. With the
launch of UPS® Saturday ground pickup and delivery service,
customers in nearly 4,700 cities and towns across the country will
benefit from five additional ground pickup and delivery days
between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“Retail industry sales forecasts indicate another strong holiday
season. UPS is working hand-in-hand with our customers to meet
consumer demand for nearly double our normal daily residential and
business-to-business deliveries,” said Kate Gutmann, UPS Chief
Sales and Solutions Officer. “Online and mobile commerce has
transformed the retail industry, and UPS is ideally positioned to
serve both our consumer and business customers during even these
busiest of times.”
According to the National Retail Federation, retail sales in
November and December are forecast to increase 3.6 to 4 percent,
reaching between $679 billion and $682 billion, surpassing the
five-year average of 3.5 percent. During the busy holiday shipping
season, UPS flexes its global delivery network to process nearly
double the regular daily volume of about 19 million packages and
documents.
“UPS continues to invest in the operational and consumer
technologies and facility improvements that enable the company to
deliver the holidays for our customers,” Gutmann added. “Enhanced
customer visibility tools, increased consumer convenience with
expanded UPS Access Point™ network options, and the availability of
the new Saturday ground delivery and pick-up services are all part
of the expanding solutions UPS is providing our customers, and
their consumers, to take full advantage of the holiday season.” The
new Saturday ground operations, driven by continuing demand for UPS
services, will add about 6,000 permanent, year-round jobs when
fully implemented.
Each year, UPS closely collaborates with its largest holiday
shippers to develop early seasonal shipping forecasts and volume
planning. To continue to meet the demand, the company is also
building new, and enhancing existing, facilities. UPS completed
four new and expanded facility projects to create about 1 million
square feet of additional automated operations space in 2017. Both
package sorting and delivery capacity is increasing by about 6
percent over last year.
Investments in new and expanded facilities include the
installation of advanced package scanning and sortation technology
that increases processing speed, accuracy and efficiency, as well
as enables package routing flexibility to meet growing customer
shipping demands. Since 2016, continuing demand for UPS services,
coupled with investments in new and enhanced facilities, has
created almost 8,000 additional permanent, year-round
positions.
This peak season, UPS plans to employ 95,000 temporary seasonal
workers, including drivers, delivery helpers who ride with drivers,
package sorters, and loaders. Candidates for seasonal jobs can
apply on UPSjobs.com. This holiday work often is an entry point for
future permanent jobs and career advancement. Almost 35% of those
hired seasonally over the last three years now have permanent jobs
with the company.
The UPS Delivering the Holidays media kit with photography and
broadcast-ready video b-roll is available at
pressroom.ups.com/holidays.
To view and download the UPS year-end holiday schedule,
including last days to ship for delivery by Christmas, visit
ups.com/holidays.
About UPS
UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a
broad range of solutions including transporting packages and
freight; facilitating international trade, and deploying advanced
technology to more efficiently manage the world of business.
Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 220 countries and
territories worldwide. The company can be found on the web
at ups.com or pressroom.ups.com and its
corporate blog can be found at longitudes.ups.com. To
get UPS news direct, follow @UPS_News on
Twitter.
Glenn Zaccara
404-828-4663
gzaccara@ups.com
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