Give UPS a Pass for Christmas Package Pileups

[cheryl]

Give UPS a Pass for Christmas Package Pileups - MSN

Is the Christmas gift you ordered online delayed? Too bad; you’ll just have to live with it.

United Parcel Service Inc. told its drivers to stop picking up packages this week from certain retailers who had exceeded their volume agreements as the logistics company works to keep its network from being overwhelmed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. A UPS spokesman told the Journal that the company will pick up surplus packages once more capacity becomes available. This may mean that orders of Nike Inc. shoes, L.L. Bean Inc. coats and Macy’s Inc. sweaters placed over the Black Friday period will show up a few days later than expected. In normal times, such pileups would be a catastrophe for logistics companies, which have faced immense pressure to keep up with retailers' increasingly aggressive promises on fast delivery. But there's nothing normal about 2020.

 

[Operational needs]

Of all of the years, this feels like the one to give a pass to UPS and FedEx for any delays that might arise. Orders will make their way to doorsteps eventually. If “eventually” happens to be two days after Christmas, who really cares? Millions of people are still out of work and more than 250,000 are dead. If your biggest problem is a delayed Christmas gift, count yourself lucky and spare a thought for the delivery employees at UPS and FedEx. These drivers and warehouse workers have borne the brunt of this year’s e-commerce deluge and have repeatedly risked their own health to allow many of us to order essentials from the comforts of our home. A federal advisory panel on Tuesday recommended health-care workers and residents of long-term care facilities receive first priority for the coronavirus vaccine, meaning it may still be a while before essential workers like UPS and FedEx drivers are inoculated.


I love the way this writer thinks. Finally, someone outside of a delivery company who gets it.