Hanukkah was not so happy for many that they did not get their gifts on time. And now Christmas could be late for millions of others waiting for gifts at their doors.
New figures show nationwide shipments are slowing thanks to record online orders, a shipment of Nor’easter vaccines, COVID-19 and workers established by the infection.
The delays are severe enough that retailers large and small warn customers that their packages will not arrive in time for the holidays.
“People don’t visit, so they send gifts,” said Kathleen Deflaun, owner of Manhattan mailboxes on 12th Street West. “It doesn’t matter if you go across the country or from Manhattan to Queens, things get stuck.”
U.S. postal service FedEx and UPS saw their one-time delivery rates drop in the second week of December, compared to the previous two weeks, according to shipping technology company ShipMatrix, which analyzed delivery schedules. delivery of more than 100,000 shipping sites nationwide.
USPS received the biggest hit of the week of December 6th. Mail operators delivered 88% of the packages ready, compared to 93% in the weeks of 22 and 29 November. FedEx fell from 95% to 94% and UPS fell only slightly: from 96.3% to 96.1%.
Figures mean more than 3.5 million packages will be delivered at least a day late, ShipMatrix said Friday.
Winter storm Gail slowed things down even more, pouring up to 40 inches of snow to the northeast this week. Customers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New York are suffering the most as they saw their on-time deliveries drop to 80, the company reported.
FedEx and UPS have stopped accepting packages at some of their locations, and the delay falls on USPS, said ShipMatrix President Satish Jindal.
“The post office has the capacity to handle 36 million packages a day and instead of 36, they receive six million more during this high season,” Jindal said.
According to its website, FedEx operated only a partial service in 16 states on Friday. On Thursday, UPS issued an online notice alerting customers that it has suspended the return guarantee for packages that do not arrive on a specific date.
The transportation industry is expected to deliver 3 billion containers this holiday season, up from 2.2 billion last year, a boost driven by a wave of online orders from shoppers wary of capturing COVID in a store.
The delays have been exacerbated by the absences of COVID-related delivery workers, shipping companies have reported. Fedex and USPS are also administering the coronavirus vaccine.
Some major retailers are informing customers about late deliveries. Macy’s began telling customers on Monday that it could not guarantee delivery on Dec. 24, and retailer of furniture and household items Crate & Barrel received a notice Friday on its website that the shipping limit Christmas had passed.
And the delays have once again been for the city’s independent traders who have seen traffic drop on foot this year.
“Due to the increase in order volume and COVID-19, there may be a delay in sending the order. Thank you for your patience! <3," read an online notice posted Friday by The Pink Olive, a boutique with three locations in the city and one in the state.