With eCommerce volume way up for the holiday shopping season, we knew it was going to be a tricky year for gift shipping.
The reports of potential delays and earlier-than-average shipping windows for Christmas delivery rolled in right on time in early December. UPS imposed shipping restrictions on some large retailers such as Gap, Nike, L.L. Bean Inc., Hot Topic Inc., Newegg Inc. and Macy’s as the shipping giant struggled with unprecedented demand from the pandemic-driven eCommerce surge.
UPS made no official confirmation of the selective delays, but the reaction from the brands involved didn’t show any alarm over the move. “We are happy with the performance of our parcel-delivery network following the higher Cyber Week demand,” a Gap spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal. “Knowing the unique constraints the industry is facing this peak season, we worked with our carriers early on to collectively build a strategic plan of execution.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Postal Service is publicly stating at the top of its website that it is “experiencing unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19. We appreciate your patience and remain committed to delivering the holidays to you.”
But as it turned out, the USPS didn’t really know the unique constraints the shipping industry would face during the peak of the holiday shopping season – and no one could have. What UPS, USPS and other shippers couldn’t have forecast is that COVID-19 vaccine distribution would begin this week in the United States, putting a further drag on delivery capacity nationwide.
“Every mode of shipping is already under tremendous pressure due to COVID-19-related and holiday shopping constraints, and vaccine delivery just adds another element of disruption to the already fragile mix,” Sean Maharaj, managing director in the logistics practice of AArete, a global consulting firm, told USA Today. He said the confluence of events is creating a “perfect storm” for shipping disruptions.
But yet another horseman of the shipping apocalypse has saddled up alongside skyrocketing consumer demand and competition for shipping from the new vaccine. A major snowstorm is expected to hit the East Coast this week, further slowing down shipping.
The massive Nor’easter appears poised to impact some 47 million Americans, with heavy snow expected to blanket parts of the Northeast and freezing rain lashing parts of Central Virginia and North Carolina with ice.
The storm comes at the worst possible time, during what would generally be the busiest shipping week of the year. That adds to the incredible pressure the industry was already facing between skyrocketing digital orders, consumers sending gifts instead of going to gatherings and vaccines being distributed at warp speed.
Delivery firms are doing their best to keep up with the increasing strain on the system. The postal service is closely monitoring the storm and taking “all available actions” to reduce delays, Kim Frum, a USPS spokesperson, told NBC News via email.
“To help handle the expected volume increase, the Postal Service has the capacity to flex its nationwide processing and delivery network to meet surges in the volume of mail and packages, including the expected additional holiday package volume that may result as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Frum said. “Our network is designed to handle temporary and seasonal increases in volume and we have the ability to deliver those additional holiday packages in a timely manner.”
FedEx spokesperson Shannon Davis told NBC that “our priority is the safety of our team members and meeting the service needs of our customers,” and that the weather would certainly have an effect on operations. But she added that “contingency plans are in place.”
UPS told NBC that it has five staff meteorologists monitoring the storm, and also has contingency plans to route packages around bad weather. To manage capacity, the company has increased holiday hiring and weekend deliveries.
“We are working closely with our largest customers to steer volume to capacity and ensure that the UPS network is reliable for all customers,” UPS spokesperson Matthew O’Connor told the network. “This collaboration includes specific capacity allocations throughout the holiday season, and we continue to work closely with our large retail customers to ensure they are aware of how much capacity is available to them.”
The delivery companies and post offices seem dedicated to performing even under pressure – but the pressure keeps mounting almost daily. It seems that Ship-ageddon won’t destroy the holiday season, but it’s certainly trying its very best to delay some celebrations.
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