As holiday traditions go, UPS's (Atlanta) annual Peak Season is one of long standing. And that tradition will be extended in 2005 with a "Peak Day" that will see UPS deliver more than 20 million packages.
That amounts to 230 packages delivered every second on Peak Day, which will occur this year on Tuesday, Dec. 20.
The next day brings another high: On Wednesday, Dec. 21, the delivery of air express packages will crest, with an anticipated global volume of more than 5 million. That checks in at 2.5 times the normal average.
Procrastinators can ship holiday packages as late as Dec. 22 using UPS Air services.
"With 98 years of experience, UPS has the knowledge and infrastructure to deliver the holidays for our customers," said Kurt Kuehn, senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing. "Small or large, our customers know UPS can handle their extra peak volume and do so efficiently and reliably."
On each day between Thanksgiving and Christmas, UPS will deliver somewhere between 14 million and 20 million air and ground packages worldwide, a fluctuation in volume that can be accommodated thanks to UPS's unmatched global infrastructure.
In addition to adding seasonal workers as needed - somewhere between 40,000 and 60,000 in 2005 -- UPS's ground delivery fleet of 88,000 package cars, vans and tractors will increase by more than 7,000 vehicles. UPS Airlines, already the ninth-largest in the world, will add 22 large jets to its year-round operating fleet.
Additionally, The UPS Store and Mail Boxes Etc. network has more than 5,500 locations worldwide.
An online store locator is available at www.TheUPSStore.com or www.mbe.com to find information about the nearest locations, products and services, hours of operation, directions and maps. This year, a campaign is underway to raise $1 million for the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation through in-store sales of donation cards and die-cast replicas of Dale Jarrett's #88 The UPS Store/Toys for Tots car.
For the do-it-yourself shipper, UPS also offers an Internet shipping option at www.UPS.com. This allows consumers to select a service, pay by credit card and then print a shipping label on a regular piece of paper. Once the package is sealed and the label affixed, the customer can hand it to a driver, arrange for a special pick-up or take it to any of UPS's 70,000 shipping locations.
Technology also has revolutionized the process of tracking packages. UPS expects to top 100 million online tracking requests during Peak Week this year and may reach a record 16 million requests on Peak Day.
From around the corner to more than 200 countries and territories around the world, UPS has been bringing the holidays home for more than 98 years. In the United States, UPS offers convenient access in every neighborhood.
Source: UPS
