If you didn't get what you wanted under the tree Christmas morning, it probably wasn't UPS's fault.
Last year, hundreds of thousands of packages were delivered late by the shipping giant or rival FedEx, meaning some gifts didn’t show up by Christmas.
But as of Wednesday, it looked like milder weather and hundreds of millions of dollars of investments by the companies — as well as moves by the shippers to encourage retailers to run promotions earlier — were producing fewer delays and complaints.
Tens of thousands of drivers and seasonal helpers were working into the evening Wednesday to make sure customers got their gifts in time.
If the effort succeeds it will help Sandy Springs-based UPS restore and polish its reputation after the tarnish left last year.
So far, “it has gone well,” UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said Wednesday. “Everything we’ve put into place has worked well…. [but] there always can be the occasional exception.”
UPS spent $500 million to prepare for the holidays and expand capacity for the future, including new buildings, temporary facilities and new technology such as a system to scan boxes on all six sides.
With an operation as big as UPS’s, the delivery record will never be perfect. Even a very small percentage of problem deliveries affects a lot of people.
Some customers voiced frustration on social media as they waited for holiday deliveries, with Twitter comments such as “Very disappointed! @UPS incorrectly sorted my package and now it won’t be here for #Christmas.” Many customers were waiting for delayed packages with hopes to receive them Christmas Eve.
Other comments were positive: “Many packages have been received by myself and family, in great time. Thank you for your service,” another person tweeted.
Package carriers had pushed retailers to offer sales earlier in the season to avoid a last minute flood of online orders, and worked with retailers to forecast more carefully to avoid surprises they could not handle.
“We’ve had really close communications with retailers,” Rosenberg said. “There were mutual commitments.”
FedEx spokesman Tim Miller said the Memphis-based company has benefited from a shift of demand through the holiday season, smoothing out peaks on particular days such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, driven by retailers. But a slowdown at West Coast ports led to shifts in demand that resulted in “some caps in volume, to ensure that we provide outstanding service,” he said.
Satish Jindel, president of shipment technology firm ShipMatrix, said shippers told retailers that if they exceeded their forecast volumes, they would have to pay more. That means they would face the dilemma of whether to eat the added cost, pass it on to customers or not offer rush delivery beyond a certain date.
The additional planning, along with better weather, helped get more gifts delivered on time. Last year “was definitely some of the worst weather we had seen in company history,” Miller said, but this year operations are “running smoothly, and we’re on track with delivery commitments.”
According to ShipMatrix data, UPS Express had 99 percent on-time performance for Monday and Tuesday this week, while FedEx Express had about 99.7 percent.
Jindel said that while more than 2 million packages were delayed by UPS and FedEx during last year’s holiday season, “this year their service will be exceptional and no one will have a reason to give them a black eye.”
With the companies delivering tens of millions of packages, there will be a “isolated instances of late deliveries,” Jindel said, but he added: “Their employees work very hard to make sure everyone’s Christmas is a happy one.”
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