Couriers work through Christmas rush

Christmas is the peak season for couriers and in recent years, with online retail becoming increasingly popular, the phenomenon has only becoming more pronounced. With millions of packages being shipped every day, all with one overriding deadline, it is a staggering feat that things run as smoothly as they do.
When the holiday rush is at its peak, depots are processing staggering numbers of packages, all of which need to be properly handled and routed and many of which will be being sent at difference service levels, such as express or for morning delivery.

UPS expected that it would have delivered more than 120 million packages during the peak delivery week leading up to Christmas, a six per cent increase on 2010. By December 12th, it had already recorded its busiest ever day, with 17 million packages shipped.

The main rush is now over, but items ordered late and Christmas sale items are still being sent, so it will be a while before things are back to normal. Many extra staff are taken on at this time of year to cope with the huge increase in business.

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