Working for You
It’s Peak Season for Santa and His Helpers at Our Cargo Carriers
December 17, 2018
The holidays are upon us, which means Santa and his workshop of elves are busy putting the finishing touches on gifts for all the good boys and girls this year.
But the North Pole isn’t the only place working overtime to get your gifts to you by Christmas morning. This time of year, U.S. carriers and their dedicated employees are working around the clock to ensure the safe and swift delivery of your packages, in plenty of time to be placed under the tree.
FedEx, Atlas and UPS are all expecting to break records this holiday season, delivering more than 1.2 billion packages this year, thanks to the increased popularity of online shopping and e-commerce.
During this peak season, cargo carriers hire thousands of extra seasonal workers to ensure that the huge influx of packages are delivered to you on time and ready to be wrapped. This year, UPS hired around 100,000 new employees to help handle the Christmas rush. And over the past three years, 35 percent of those seasonal workers were hired full-time after the holidays. Even UPS CEO David Abney began his career as a part-time employee at UPS.
“Every year, we deliver the holidays for millions of customers,” said Jim Barber, UPS chief operating officer. “In order to make that happen, we also deliver thousands of great seasonal jobs at our facilities across the country.”
FedEx also ramped up their holiday hiring, adding 55,000 new jobs this season — 10 percent more than last year — to help process the millions of packages delivered globally every day.
“The rise in demand for e-commerce goes beyond peak. It’s a year-round phenomenon.” said Raj Subramaniam, FedEx’s chief marketing and communications officer.
In a partnership with Amazon, Atlas Air is also helping to deliver Christmas joy as well, providing the company with air cargo services and the aircrafts for millions of Amazon shipments onboard Amazon Air. The cargo company just delivered its 20th B767-300 converted freighter to Amazon, ahead of Amazon’s busy shipping season.
“E-commerce is the fastest growing air cargo segment, and we are excited to continue our partnership with Amazon as it delivers innovative service to its customers,” said Atlas Air President and CEO William J. Flynn.
And although you may recognize the UPS, Atlas or FedEx planes soaring through the skies, you may not know that traditional passenger carriers like JetBlue, American, United, Southwest, Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines also help deliver packages and goods all over the world as well.
In order to make sure your gift arrives in time to place under the tree before Santa’s big arrival, be sure to send your packages by the following dates. Then sit back and relax with a cup of cocoa while you wait for the North Pole and the hardworking men and women at our cargo carriers who make Christmas happen!
FedEx
- Monday, Dec. 17 is the last day to ship FedEx Ground for delivery before December 25.
- Thursday, Dec. 20 is the last day to ship FedEx 2Day for delivery before December 25.
- Friday, Dec. 21 is the last day to ship FedEx Standard Overnight for delivery before December 25.
UPS
- Tuesday, Dec. 18 is the last day to ship UPS 3 Day Select for packages to be delivered before Christmas Day.
- Thursday, Dec. 20 is the last day to ship UPS 2nd Day Air packages for delivery on Christmas Eve.
- Friday, Dec. 21 is the last day to ship UPS Next Day Air packages for delivery on Christmas Eve.