Surge In Online Orders Overwhelms UPS Christmas Deliveries

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Surge In Online Orders Overwhelms UPS Christmas Deliveries

Posted by timothy on Thursday December 26, 2013 @05:02AM from the coordinating-unknowns-is-hard dept.

Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Reuters reports that the high volume of online orders of holiday packages overwhelmed shipping and logistics company UPS delaying the arrival of Christmas presents around the globe and sending angry consumers to social media to vent. The company projected 132 million deliveries last week "and obviously we exceeded that," said UPS spokeswoman Natalie Black without disclosing how many packages had been sent. "For now, UPS is really focused on delivering the remaining packages. You might not see trucks, but people are working." Asked why the company underestimated the volume of air packages it would receive, Black noted that previous severe weather in the Dallas area had already created a backlog. Then came "excess holiday volume" during a compressed time frame, since the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas was shorter than usual this year. Amazon.com responded with an email to affected customers offering shipping refunds and $20 gift cards to compensate. Packages shipped via UPS for Amazon.com by Prime customers, who pay $79 a year for two-day shipping, may be eligible for additional refunds. Amazon's stated policy for missed deliveries is to offer a free one-month extension of Prime. Frustrated consumers took to social media, with some complaining that gifts purchased for their children would not arrive in time to make it under the tree by Christmas morning. '"A lot of these employees keep saying 'It's the weather' or 'It's some kind of a backlog,' said Barry Tesh. 'Well then why, all the way up until the 23rd, were they offering next-day delivery? That guaranteed delivery was 80% of my decision to buy the gift."' However, others on social media urged shoppers to be more appreciative of the delivery company's work during the holiday season. 'While others take vacation and time off in December, remember we aren't allowed ever to be off in December. Ever,' said a 20-year veteran UPS driver on the UPS Facebook page. 'So when you see your family and complain that your package is held up, everyone who moves your package is working and doesn't get the Xmas experience you get, Be thankful for that.'"

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Understandable, but... by DoofusOfDeath · 2013-12-26 05:06 · Score: 5, Insightful

I can understand that UPS / Fedex failed to predict their full load. It's too bad, but part of life.
What really surprises me is that they didn't have a system in place that (a) detected when they were at risk of having too many order to keep their QoS commitments, and (b) warning prospective customers that they might not get a prospective order delivered by Christmas.
1. Re:Understandable, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 05:18 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Actually, they did.
  My wife works for a relatively well-known shoe/clothing manufacturer that also does direct sales (website, catalog, etc.) FedEx was warning them several days before Christmas that they predicted a delivery problem due to late orders rising faster than they predicted. Her company has an overflow agreement with UPS, so they started witching some orders to them, but then both companies hit a wall in terms of delivery capacity.
  It sounds like this was one of those problems where they both saw it coming, but couldn't do anything about it. There have been more than a few articles about FedEx in particular cutting back its container plane fleet due to fuel costs and the overall drop in package deliveries relative to a few years ago. I can only assume UPS has done the same -- when you cut back capacity in order to remain profitable, it stands to reason that a sudden, unexpected and massive surge of packages in your system is going to cause problems. And because both UPS and FedEx are for-profit, public companies, it's ultimately probably cheeper for them to suffer the ill-will and make-goods required of an event like this than to have a lot of excess capacity sitting aorund unused.
2. Re:Understandable, but... by Kenja · 2013-12-26 05:37 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I've been seeing commercials about a company that has solutions for this sort of thing... can't recall their name but they keep yammering on about "logistics'.
  
  --
  
  "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
3. Re:Understandable, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 05:37 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  If anyone would have bothered to read either UPS's or FedEx's website, they would have seen around the 19th of December they had NO guarenteed delivery date deals. Those promises were purely from the retailers at that point. It's a shame though of course the curriers are the ones who catch the flack.
  Not to mention if people WOULDN'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST DAMN MINUTE or get out of the house and VISIT A STORE, much of this could have been avoided. I'll admit, I ordered a few small things on the 23rd with the gift wrap and next day option from Amazon more as a test.. and all 4 items arrived by noon on the 24th. (They were shipped from an amazon DC in the same state so that surely helped).
  Hell my wife's gift from my brother didn't arrive before Chrismast (and he didn't expect it to).. no big deal. For the people who waited to order *everything* in the last few days before christmas and all of it via online.. well maybe you should have grabbed a few from the store or have done the "Ship to store" or "instore pickup" option instead. Or at the very least do what we've done before and print a picture and wrap that and just tell the person it wasn't going to arrive in time.
  Maybe I'm getting more bitter as I age but this 'I wanted it tomorrow and it didn't make it, I don't give a shit about the massive volume of items from other procrastinators like myself or the ice storms and other weather, I WANT MY SHIT IT'S THE CARRIERS FAULT!' mentality is just so damn annoying.
  Lastly, it's not always as it appears either. Over the summer I ordered an RC heliocopter for my son and did 1 day delivery so it would arrive in time for our trip to the beach. All indications on Amazon were it was in UPS's hands later that night. It didn't arrive the next day, and I kept checking the tracking info and it still appeared to be stuck in the intial location in the hands of UPS. After 3 days I called Amazon to find out what was going on, and the agent figured out UPS never had the item as THEY didn't have it either. Here the 3rd party seller or whatever that Amazon did the fulfillment and what not for (for prime and all) hadn't sent them any stock or something along those lines (could have been a complete BS store and Amazon just never packed my stuff). Either way, while the tracking info made it look like it was UPS holding up the show, it was in fact the retailer Amazon that had fucked up. It makes me wonder how many other online retailers didn't have the capacity to fill orders fast enough or were out of stock while the website still listed stock so they had to wait for more before they could box and ship, YET the shipping information was already entered into the system creating a tracking number for UPS or FedEx, which made it LOOK like the delay was on the shipping company used.
4. Re:Understandable, but... by Runaway1956 · 2013-12-26 05:39 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  At least part of the problem is, not that UPS or other delivery companies promise you, the customer, delivery on time for Christmas. It is Amazon* and other bulk suppliers who are making these promises.
  As AC states below, UPS and Fedex were making warnings to those retail suppliers. Amazon, or whoever, didn't pass those warnings on to you, the end user.
  Do we expect that Amazon is going to make a public apology to all those children who had to wait until the day after Christmas for their presents? I don't think so. Amazon has your money, and they are going to keep as much of it as they think they can. They'll pass out a few gift certificates, and refund some shipping fees, but they are going to keep as much money as possible.
  All of my shipments came in on time.
  There IS a shipment which UPS intends to deliver today. Comparing notes, no one in the family seems to have any outstanding orders. Maybe it's a gift from one of the grandparents from several years ago? A gift from the afterlife? Oooohhh - a supernatural gift! More importantly, UPS is going a little extra to deliver whatever the package might be, by calling the house to see if anyone will be available to receive it. We have never before been contacted prior to delivery.
  Bottom line here - if you wait until the last minute to place an order, you can expect to be disappointed. Any adult should understand that. Any adult should be ready to explain it to a child. Life is life, and stuff happens. I've had late deliveries in off-peak seasons, after all.
  * I am using Amazon here as an example - replace Amazon with your motor sports supplier, or whatever.
  
  --
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5. Re:Understandable, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 06:10 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Surge capacity is expensive and hard to prove of value. So the bean counters don't like it. But they could have I think, for a nominal fee, booked more charter flights, contractors etc. on stand by in case of need.
  Oh hey guys, look, another armchair quarterback on the internet who is absolutely certain that FedEx and UPS, with their multi-billion dollar operations, missed some obvious, easy, and cheap solution to this problem! Color me shocked.
  The reason bean counters don't like paying for "surge capacity" is because "surge capacity" is often left unused, because it is insurance for the rare-to-never case where things completely shit the bed. FedEx and UPS *have* surge capacity built in - what happened this year is that their surge capacity wasn't able to keep up with the actual volume of packages funneling through their systems. Three days before Christmas is a bit too late to begin arranging 'surge capacity' for the holiday season - there's not much volume available for hire at that point, and the planes are frequently not where you want them to be, too, which means they'd have to scramble to fly pilots around to the planes all over the country (or world) where they're parked, fly them to their destination to pick up their cargo, and do this in the space of 12-24 hours in order to get the capacity in place to make a difference for holiday shipments. Then they also need the capacity on the ground in their receiving facilities and delivery trucks to be able to ship everything on time, as well.
  When your business is built-on "just in time" delivery, a late surge and weather-based delays can really fuck up your transportation chain no matter how hard you plan. In most cases, it's better to eat some penalties and freebies to angry customers receiving late packages than it is to spend millions or billions scrambling at the last minute to get every last package there on time.
6. Re:Understandable, but... by torkus · 2013-12-26 06:31 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  So just to use your own point...if emergency rooms (i.e. critically necessary medical services largely funded by the gov't) can't provide capacity necessary for the exception-circumstance...how is it reasonable to expect FedEx or UPS to do even more? Getting a beanie boo before xmas isn't quite as important as pushing saline for a trauma victim with low BP. (though if you read the FB page for FedEx or UPS you might get the impression otherwise)
  I think the vendors deserve much of the blame here if the delivery companies were communicating with them. Heck, if Amazon posted that orders are surging this year and deliveries may be delayed for last second orders...so order RIGHT NOW. just like they do with the silly (but effective) timer for when you can last order something to get it by X day.
  What I find truly ironic - people are blaming FedEx and UPS for 'failing to plan ahead properly' when *they're* the ones ordering things at the very last second. UPS should include a small, complimentary mirror with each of these delayed packages when they're delivered.
  
  --
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7. Re:Understandable, but... by geoskd · 2013-12-26 06:50 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  "But they could have I think, for a nominal fee, booked more charter flights"
  I'm afraid that extra flights, contractors, etc are just not available.
  You are entirely correct that it is a management failure. Management should have their own extra equipment, and they should have sufficient personnel already hired to operate the equipment. But, you're simply not going to find a lot of planes, trucks, and temporary personnel to contract right at Christmas.
  That extra capacity comes with a price. Are you willing to pay an extra $8 shipping on every order all year long to pay for the equipment that sits idle for 11 months out of the year?
  
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  I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
8. Re:Understandable, but... by ultranova · 2013-12-26 07:16 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  So just to use your own point...if emergency rooms (i.e. critically necessary medical services largely funded by the gov't) can't provide capacity necessary for the exception-circumstance...how is it reasonable to expect FedEx or UPS to do even more?
  
  It seems unlikely that half of FedEx and UPS board of directors are actively trying to sabotage their company for ideological reasons. The same is not true of federal government - and sadly, this sickness seems to be spreading as well as the rest of American culture.
  
  --
  Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
9. Re:Understandable, but... by Runaway1956 · 2013-12-26 07:28 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  That extra capacity carries with it some benefits, as well as a price.
  I've some experience in trucking. I know that some companies only have enough trucks to meet commitments. Other companies have a few extra trucks sitting around the yard. I don't mean 30 or 50 percent extra capacity - but maybe 10 or 15 percent.
  What good are those trucks? Well - a driver who is coming through the yard with a truck that is due (or overdue) for maintenance can bail out of his truck, and take one of the spares to complete his run. Preventive maintenance, done on schedule, can prevent breakdowns and accidents.
  That extra 10% of vehicles can pay for itself in fairly short order, really. And, when you DO have a surge, all you need is to pick up a few temporary people to put those trucks on the road, to meet the surge. I've seen it done. We had a contract come up that required tens of thousands of tons of rebar to be moved, and all those extra trucks were put on a dedicated run to help meet the deadline.
  BTW - those extra trucks are usually older, nearly worn out vehicles that have already paid for themselves, many times over. They are still roadworthy, they are paid off, they are still insured, they still pass inspection - why get rid of them? Keep a few around for whatever emergencies might happen. They've already been depreciated, so on the books they are valueless, and cost next to nothing.
  
  --
  "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
10. Re:Understandable, but... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 07:47 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  That extra capacity carries with it some benefits, as well as a price.
  I've some experience in trucking. I know that some companies only have enough trucks to meet commitments. Other companies have a few extra trucks sitting around the yard. I don't mean 30 or 50 percent extra capacity - but maybe 10 or 15 percent.
  What good are those trucks? Well - a driver who is coming through the yard with a truck that is due (or overdue) for maintenance can bail out of his truck, and take one of the spares to complete his run. Preventive maintenance, done on schedule, can prevent breakdowns and accidents.
  That extra 10% of vehicles can pay for itself in fairly short order, really. And, when you DO have a surge, all you need is to pick up a few temporary people to put those trucks on the road, to meet the surge. I've seen it done. We had a contract come up that required tens of thousands of tons of rebar to be moved, and all those extra trucks were put on a dedicated run to help meet the deadline.
  BTW - those extra trucks are usually older, nearly worn out vehicles that have already paid for themselves, many times over. They are still roadworthy, they are paid off, they are still insured, they still pass inspection - why get rid of them? Keep a few around for whatever emergencies might happen. They've already been depreciated, so on the books they are valueless, and cost next to nothing.
  That's great, but FedEx and UPS already do that. What happened here is that they overran their 15 percent. Most companies don't have surge capacity on their surge capacity.
  The other tricky thing here is the logistics -- I'm pretty sure UPS had at least almost enough trucks and feet on the ground to do pickups and deliveries -- the problem comes from having more volume than their processing plants can process and more air deliveries than they can charter flights for. The big one is really their processing hubs, which can only scale up to max capacity -- you can't go any further, period.
11. Re:Understandable, but... by Dragonslicer · 2013-12-26 08:08 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I ordered a toy for my nephew 5 days before Christmas, with Amazon Prime 2-day GUARANTEED shipping. Right on the item page, Amazon GUARANTEED that it would arrive by Christmas. I don't hold UPS responsible. I hold responsible the vendor that made the claim. I spent my Christmas Eve driving to a Toys-R-Us 3 towns over, instead of sipping egg nog and decorating the tree.
  Congratulations on teaching a child the true meaning of Christmas.
Are these folks idolators? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 05:11 · Score: 3, Insightful

It seems to me, they worship physical objects, and not their Creator. Give the U.S.P.S. a break if there's a snowstorm. I can't believe that a holiday these folks allege to be a Religious one can be "ruined" because stuff they want (that has nothing to do with the religious observance) is a day late.
1. Re:Are these folks idolators? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 05:30 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  How do you know physical objects are not The Creator? For all you know, the universe could be run by Kindle Fire HDXs, and they only chose now to manifest themselves in reality.
Re:Fucking WAAAA. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 05:35 · Score: 3, Funny

That's because it was destroyed. A bunch of thieves broke into a UPS factory and destroyed it. The UPS workers fought with their lives to protect your package and others, and 32 workers fell in the battle. How many lives must be lost before you are satisfied? You're still getting your watch, but remember who died to get it to you.
Re:Thankful by damicatz · 2013-12-26 05:35 · Score: 5, Insightful

UPS and FedEx drivers have been working 10-12+ hour days 6-7 days a week since Thanksgiving.
Your Christmas will not be ruined because of a late package unless you value some item or trinket over spending time with your family. First world problems indeed.
Re:What a load of BS by Deadstick · 2013-12-26 05:36 · Score: 5, Insightful

That being said, having your gifts arrive a little late falls in the First World Problems category. Get over it.
True, but so is a corn futures contract. If you sell me one and the corn doesn't show up at the warehouse, I'm not gonna let you off the hook because you had a dry year...and Fedex/UPS should be expected to compensate their customers some way. It won't kill them to knock something off the next shipping bill.
Re:Members of Amazon Prime can request one free mo by Sarten-X · 2013-12-26 05:38 · Score: 3, Insightful

The libertarian thing to do, then, is to order many individual packages during December, with careful attention paid to the origin and destination so as to maximize the expected profit.
The invisible hand of the free market will finally serve the consumer!

--
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Narcissistic Society says by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 05:47 · Score: 5, Insightful

"'I wanted it tomorrow and it didn't make it, I don't give a shit about the massive volume of items from other procrastinators like myself or the ice storms and other weather, I WANT MY SHIT IT'S THE CARRIERS FAULT!' mentality is just so damn annoying."
Society is increasingly narcissistic. The person to whom this is a reply is correct in the statement quoted above as he explains the instant-gratification mentality he observes.
Re:oh fucking cry about it. by lgw · 2013-12-26 05:52 · Score: 3, Informative

UPS stopped making any promises mid-December, as did FedEx. They knew, and were honest and upfront about it. What more can you ask of them? You should be asking why Amazon was still making promises they knew they couldn't stand behind.

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Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
Meh... by mythosaz · 2013-12-26 05:55 · Score: 5, Informative

First, The UPS "guaranteed on-schedule delivery" already includes the following:

The guarantee does not apply to UPS shipments that are delayed due to causes beyond UPS's control, including, but not limited to, the following:
[SNIPPED some basic things, strikes, acts of god, government, customs, etc.]
disruptions in air or ground transportation networks, such as weather phenomena; and natural disasters.
The guarantee does not apply to UPS 2nd Day Air A.M., UPS 2nd Day Air, UPS 3 Day Select, and UPS Ground shipments that are picked up or scheduled to be delivered between December 12 and December 25.
http://www.ups.com/media/en/terms_service_us.pdf
Can you read that? Christmas is excluded. The whole Christmas season is excluded. ...and they're still offering compensation.
Good guy UPS.
First world problems by symbolset · 2013-12-26 05:56 · Score: 4, Insightful

If you ordered a gift at the last possible second, the problem is not UPS. It's you.

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Re:Thankful by anglico · 2013-12-26 06:03 · Score: 5, Interesting

When I was a driver (~2000) we could only be on the road for 12 hours (13 with lunch) if I remember correctly, so whether we were finished or not, we had to be back at the building within that time frame. Every Christmas I worked as a driver we were taking packages on the way home in our cars, on our own time, to make sure people got their presents.
Re:Thankful by Salgak1 · 2013-12-26 06:25 · Score: 3, Insightful

. . .except, of course, that it was NOT UPS (or FedEx, or DHL. . . ) that promised the 2-day shipping. The MERCHANTS did. And that's who the medium-large can'o'whoop@ss should be opened on. . .
Re:oh fucking cry about it. by torkus · 2013-12-26 06:39 · Score: 3, Insightful

The problem is the vast majority of people sending things aren't interacting with UPS or FedEx other than selecting shipping speed through xyzshopping.com
They were told 'last day to order for xmas eve delivery is 11:59PM on Dec 23rd (or whatever) by the retailer.
Last second shopping? Go to a freaking store people. :)

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You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
Re:Thankful by Anonymous Coward · 2013-12-26 07:04 · Score: 4, Insightful

Thanks.
Re:Tough choices... by geoskd · 2013-12-26 07:12 · Score: 4, Insightful

'While others take vacation and time off in December, remember we aren't allowed ever to be off in December. Ever,' said a 20-year veteran UPS driver on the UPS Facebook page.
As somone in a similar position (not career, but limited vacation-time availability), that's a career choice each person must make. If you aren't happy with it, change careers.
And just what career do you think that a delivery driver (who I might add is not qualified to do anything requiring more than a high school diploma) is supposed to switch to? Remember, half of the people in the world have an IQ below 100 by definition. Should we just relegate all of these people to 2nd class citizen status with poverty level jobs (if any job at all)? Most of these people dont have any other options that offer any chance of paying enough to allow them to raise a family. Or is it your considered opinion that these people exist only to serve you? People like you invented slavery, and would have us return to it in the name of capitalism.

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I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
Re:USPS Where are you?? by CanHasDIY · 2013-12-26 07:29 · Score: 4, Informative

All this revenue that could be pulled by the one time largest shipper in the US, but for some reason, they keep losing billions a year.
No, they aren't "losing billions a year."
It just looks that way, because the USPS is the only government body that's required (thanks to Congressional legislation) to fund ALL retirements and pensions through the next decade.
If it were allowed to be ran like any other government agency, the Post Office would actually be doing OK.

--
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Re:Fucking WAAAA. by ultranova · 2013-12-26 08:13 · Score: 3, Informative

Maybe; I was raised in a capitalist society, after all...

Well then, what are you complaining about? The company has decided that its current level of effort maximizes its expected profits. Sucks for you, but that's usually the outcome for the weaker party to a deal in a capitalist society (or any society, for that matter).

--
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.