UPS said yesterday that it expects to deliver more than 325 million packages globally during this year's holiday peak season.
The annual surge in Thanksgiving-to-Christmas volume is forecast to crest on Dec. 18. On that day, UPS anticipates delivering more than 18 million air and ground packages internationally, or more than 200 every second. That is more than a 35 percent surge over average daily volumes of 13 million deliveries a day.
UPS predicts Dec. 20 will be the peak day for air express delivery with a global volume of more than 4 million packages. This is about double typical air express delivery levels.
Online tracking requests, which averaged about 5 million per day in October, are expected to reach 8 million to 10 million inquiries on peak day, Dec. 18.
Last year, UPS also said it expected to deliver more than 325 million packages globally during the peak holiday period. On UPS' peak day last year, Dec. 19, the carrier expected to deliver more than 19 million air and ground packages globally.
More than 1,300 UPS flights will take off each day during the peak week, Dec. 17-24. During an average week, more than 900 UPS flights take off every day.
To accommodate additional air volume during this year's peak week, UPS will add more than a dozen large jets to supplement the more than 600 aircraft in operation year-round. It also will open five additional air hubs just for the peak season.
New this year is a service that allows consumers at home to go to the Web to arrange alternative delivery times and locations after receiving a UPS InfoNotice that a package cannot be delivered without a signature. Using the Web, for example, a consumer could reschedule a delivery to a date when she will be home, or ask that the package be delivered to an alternate address.
