Driven by the growth in e-commerce, UPS expected to pick up more than 34 million packages Dec. 16, and deliver 29 million packages globally Dec. 17, a UPS record for a single day.
This year, the week of Dec. 16-20 is known as Peak Week due to the surge in volume preceding Christmas. UPS anticipated delivering 300 packages per second on Dec. 17.
“The entire team at UPS has planned all year to handle the annual increased shipping volume during the holidays,” Alan Gershenhorn, chief sales, marketing and strategy officer, said. “As consumers change the way they shop for holiday gifts and shipping needs shift, customers rely even more on UPS for trusted and convenient solutions around the globe.”
UPS prepares for its Peak Week with a large-scale operation involving its global fleet of vehicles and cargo planes. More than 2,388 UPS cargo flights are taking off daily around the world during UPS’s seasonal peak week, 465 more flights than a typical day in November.