feFedEx Expects To Handle A Record 317 Million Packages Between Black Friday And Christmas

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As consumers continue to rely on online retailers to fill their holiday shopping needs, FedEx says this year will be busier than ever before: between Black Friday and Christmas, the company says it expects to handle 317 million packages. Which is a pretty impressive number — but what’s FedEx going to do to make sure those packages actually reach their destinations in time?

In projections released Monday, FedEx says its holiday shipments will be at a record-breaking volume, up 12.4% over last year (h/t Washington Post).

Cyber Monday and its avalanche of online deals will be especially crowded, as will the first two Mondays in December: on those days, FedEx will deal with more than double the number of packages it handles on an average day, the company predicts.

Again, these are all big, fat numbers, but they’re numbers that could turn into a headache for FedEx (and other shippers) if it can’t handle all that volume — one only has to think back to 2013 and recall the millions of packages that didn’t arrive on time for Christmas.

To prepare for the onslaught, FedEx says it’s made $1.6 billion investing in its ground shipping service this year to increase capacity and add automation to its network. It’s also planning to hire 55,000 seasonal workers, 10% more than last year, to handle all those packages.

FedEx says it expects its projections to be on target, and that it’s ready to handle what comes.

“We’re very confident,” Patrick Fitzgerald, senior vice president of marketing and communications at FedEx told the Wall Street Journal. “There’s a relatively small number of e-tail and retail customers that drive the peaks during the holiday. Because we work so closely with them, not just this year, but every year, we can really understand some of the patterns.”

FedEx readies for a crush of holiday-season shipments [Washington Post]
FedEx Expects Record Volume of Holiday Shipments [Wall Street Journal]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist