Extra hires and early planning are part of the holiday delivery playbook for UPS and FedEx

As e-commerce continues to take a bigger piece of the holiday package delivery pie, it stands to reason that companies need to be proactive and prepared in order to deliver premium service during the busiest time of year, which is rapidly approaching.

And that is exactly what transportation giants UPS and FedEx are doing this year. How are they doing it exactly? The primary step they are taking is to up their numbers of seasonal staffers.

In UPS’s case, the company said this week that it plans to hire between 90,000-to-95,000 seasonal employees, which tops last year’s 85,000. Atlanta-based UPS said that these seasonal hires are brought on to support “the anticipated holiday surge” for package deliveries commencing in October and running through January.

These seasonal staffers will be crucial for UPS to handle its expected increase in package deliveries, with the company prepping to aid retail shippers be fully equipped to meet their customers’ needs during the holiday season. Positions they will occupy include package sorters, loaders, delivery helpers, and drivers.

Over at FedEx, the company said on its fiscal first quarter earnings call that it expects more than 50,000 seasonal positions to be added for the upcoming peak across its operating companies, including package handlers, helpers, drivers and other support positions.

These seasonal hiring additions for the 2014 holiday rush comes after a difficult 2013 holiday shipping season during which many supply chain networks, not just those of UPS and FedEx, dealt with myriad delays and service disruptions during Peak Season in 2013, and are not determined to go down that road again in 2014. And while there were delays and some people did not get their items in time for the holidays, industry estimates suggest it was a relatively modest amount of volume that got lost in the shuffle.

What’s more, the additional seasonal hires can also prove to be mutually beneficial for both the companies the seasonal staffers, in that there is the potential for those workers coming on board to leverage their temporary efforts into a full-time position working for companies with better than good bottom lines and good career tracks, too.

FedEx Chairman, President, and CEO Fred Smith said on the FedEx fiscal first quarter earnings call that in addition to its extra seasonal employees, the company’s peak planning commences early in the calendar year after Peak Season. And he made it clear that last year’s peak performance was “outstanding…with the exception of a couple of weather events.

Another thing that both are doing in advance of holiday delivery season is talking with customers well ahead of time in order to address various needs or concerns.

UPS Director of Public Relations Susan Rosenberg told LM that UPS began talks with customers about holiday deliveries much earlier than usual this year.
“We are having really meaningful discussions with particularly larger, high-end shippers,” she said. “In some cases are making changes; they may be putting new distribution centers in certain locations. There is also the whole growth of omnichannel, with the combined brick and mortar and shopping component in which retailers are using their stores as fulfillment centers. This means our patterns for pick up and delivery are changing. We are having that dialogue and have been building capacity that might be permanent with brand new buildings that are going up very quickly.”

Even though industry estimates suggest that it was a relatively modest amount of volume that got lost in the shuffle last year, it does not make things better for those consumers that were inconvenienced. But to be sure, it is fair to say at the same time there will be many lessons learned from what happened last year as retailers and their partners like FedEx and UPS prepare for this year’s holiday season.

Adding extra staff and advancing the dialogue are smart and crucial on the behalf of UPS and FedEx is equal parts smart and crucial. And it would be nice if the weather cooperated a little bit better, too, to say the least. The days keep falling off the calendar and consumers will be placing online orders soon in advance of the holidays while the wheels of commerce spin. It looks like it should be an interesting ride.