So much for learning from past mistakes

[Brownslave688]

Retailers race to the top with free, fast delivery

http://usat.ly/1uqt7wx

"Last-minute delivery poses tough challenges for retailers. They risk customer anger if they fail to deliver and must pay a premium to shippers to get the service, sometimes jeopardizing a profit.

"It might hurt the bottom line, but if they don't offer free and fast shipping the fear is that somebody else will," Steve Osburn, Kurt Salmon's supply chain expert, said.

UPS angered thousands of customers last year when guaranteed-delivery packages arrived days after Christmas. UPS blamed bad winter weather and a greater than expected boom in online shopping.

"Retailers and shippers are going to have to be exponentially better at execution than they were last year," Osburn said.

UPS, FedEx and USPS, the nation's largest shippers, say they are ready to handle the increased demand. After last year's experience , FedEx and UPS say they have made big changes to prepare for the expected surge. The U.S. Postal Service will switch to seven-day package delivery after Thanksgiving, as it did last year, to accommodate the increases."

 

[bleedinbrown58]

Exactly what big changes did ups make for this peak? Ohh right, Black Friday will save Christmas!

 

[Brownslave688]

Exactly what big changes did ups make for this peak? Ohh right, Black Friday will save Christmas!

We did seem to hire a lot more people and even expanded some capacity. I would also guess if it actually comes down to it we work a Saturday or two to catch up.

Here's what I hate though. Amazon Sears target ect can not guarantee delivery. We are the ones delivering it. Ups fed ex and usps should all come
Out with a statement right now saying we do not guarantee any delivery time frames the week before Xmas.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

We did seem to hire a lot more people and even expanded some capacity. I would also guess if it actually comes down to it we work a Saturday or two to catch up.

Here's what I hate though. Amazon Sears target ect can not guarantee delivery. We are the ones delivering it. Ups fed ex and usps should all come
Out with a statement right now saying we do not guarantee any delivery time frames the week before Xmas.

We worked every saturday last peak...and still failed....even with almost no snow pre-Christmas. Yes...they did hire more people...but many have still not been trained yet. One good snowstorm before Christmas and it'll be shot to hell in my neck of the woods.

 

[wage EARNER]

Yes, UPS should make the public statement,"We are moving at a pace that we can maintain." Those magic words work for every problem.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

Yes, UPS should make the public statement,"We are moving at a pace that we can maintain." Those magic words work for every problem.

"It'll be there when it gets there."
-Happy Holidays from UPS

 

[upschuck]

We did seem to hire a lot more people and even expanded some capacity. I would also guess if it actually comes down to it we work a Saturday or two to catch up.

Sunday before Christmas would have the DOT hours reset so everyone could work full hours that day, if needed too.

 

[clean hairy]

Last year I was getting emails on Dec 21st from retailers guaranteeing delivery by the 25th.
It is not the fault of UPS that Retailers make promises knowing they will not get the backlash!
The best UPS could do is put out commercials and ads stating "After Dec _____2014 we cannot guarantee delivery by the 25th, regardless of what an online retailer may tell you"

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

UPS has already said they will turn away volume rather than be unable to process and deliver it on time.

 

[UPSER110]

Yesterday I talked to the USPS lady at the mall and she said they had 2 pallets of packages sitting that they couldn't process. Same town I live in with a population of less than 9k. No one is ready, and any sign of bad weather is going to hurt even more.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Yesterday I talked to the USPS lady at the mall and she said they had 2 pallets of packages sitting that they couldn't process. Same town I live in with a population of less than 9k. No one is ready, and any sign of bad weather is going to hurt even more.

What do you mean no one is ready? 95K temp workers, 15 mobile shipping villages and increased air capacity means we are as ready as we will ever be.

 

[Brownslave688]

UPS has already said they will turn away volume rather than be unable to process and deliver it on time.

Not exactly......

They said turn away volume OR apply surcharges.

 

[UPSER110]

What do you mean no one is ready? 95K temp workers, 15 mobile shipping villages and increased air capacity means we are as ready as we will ever be.

Every year online commerce beats the projection, throw some bad weather into the mix and things will go down hill quickly. One guy retired and another is going at the end of the month. We also have less reg-temp drivers than last year.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

If we are already heavily discounting Amazon would adding a surcharge bring them closer to retail rates?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Every year online commerce beats the projection, throw some bad weather into the mix and things will go down hill quickly. One guy retired and another is going at the end of the month. We also have less reg-temp drivers than last year.

Our center has hired a lot of extra people.

 

[cosmo1]

Our center has hired a lot of extra people.

Your center is not the same as all centers.

I was at my old center today and talked with one of my former supes. He told me they (district) had cut routes and 14 cover drivers were out as helpers. Along with 40 helpers on the rest of the routes. The real problem is lack of rentals. UPS waits until the last minute, and by that time FE has them all tied up.

 

[Brownslave688]

If we are already heavily discounting Amazon would adding a surcharge bring them closer to retail rates?

I mean that's kind of obvious isn't it?

 

[Brownslave688]

Your center is not the same as all centers.

I was at my old center today and talked with one of my former supes. He told me they (district) had cut routes and 14 cover drivers were out as helpers. Along with 40 helpers on the rest of the routes. The real problem is lack of rentals. UPS waits until the last minute, and by that time FE has them all tied up.

It's like thanksgiving is some type of magic day that they let the center manager do whatever is needed.


Had many people at or over 12 hours yesterday. So we sent 4-5 drivers out as helpers and another 8 were sent home.

 

[watdaflock?]

The new lines being used by management is "HR issues" why they've not hired enough seasonal temps so far.

 

[sailfish]

If people have a disappointing Christmas because they waited until the last minute they only have themselves to blame. And retailers are fools if they think they can make guarantees like that. Imbeciles. All of them.