UPS Expecting Record Holiday Volume, Up 11%
With 56 days left until Christmas UPS is expecting to set another record this holiday season in terms of the number of packages it will deliver.

File Photo.

File Photo.
With 56 days left until Christmas parcel delivery giant UPS is expecting to set another record this holiday season in terms of the number of packages it will deliver.
It expects to handle 585 million packages in December, an 11% increase over last year’s level. And while its peak delivery day is expected to happen on Dec. 22, when it plans to deliver 34 million packages worldwide, six days are expected to surpass last year’s single-day delivery record of 31 million packages.
For comparison, the company delivers about 17 million packages worldwide on an average day.
UPS said it has been preparing for the season by outfitting 47 new and expanded facilities and installing flexible capacity across its network. "Some 15 locations will have modular units - loading doors and connected conveyors configured as stand-alone 'mobile delivery villages' - to expand capacity," UPS said in a release. "Each of these villages can dispatch between 60 and 90 additional vehicles from that center. The company also added new information technology solutions and processes to improve volume forecasting, network capacity visibility, package status tracking and customer communications."
All this is an effort to avoid a repeat of last year when UPS and FedEx failed to delivery packages in time for Christmas, setting off a wave of protests by angry consumers and retailers.
UPS noted this Christmas season it has two additional operational days compared to last year. One is naturally due to the calendar while the second day, Friday, Nov. 28, has been added by the company as a full operations day. Previously the day after Thanksgiving was a holiday for many UPS employees, with the change drawing criticism especially from Teamster Union represented employees, most of whom are covered by a contract that has no language preventing such a switch on “Black Friday.”
Last week, UPS main rival, FedEx, announced it was also expecting to see record holiday package volume.
Originally posted on Automotive Fleet
More Operations

Family Ties Inside the Fleet Families Building Careers Across Generations
Three fleet families share what it really takes to work together, learn across generations, and keep business from following them home.
Read More →
Shades of Fleet Call for Voices: Fleet's Hidden Heroes
Fleet’s hidden heroes are often the ones keeping everything moving behind the scenes. September’s Shades of Fleet is looking for dispatchers, coordinators, parts specialists, and other support pros to share their stories.
Read More →
Truck Centers, Inc. Celebrates National Truck Driver Appreciation Week with $1,000 Fuel Card Giveaways
During National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, Truck Centers, Inc. is offering customers a chance to fuel up for free. Customers at all Truck Centers locations can enter to win one of four $1,000 fuel cards from Sept. 14 - 18.
Read More →
Fleet Guides, AI Time-Savers, Truck Tariffs & Fuel Strategy Lead the News
This week’s Truck Chat Cheat Sheet covers new fleet vehicle guides, practical AI use cases, U.S.-Canada truck production, mixed-energy strategy, and more.
Read More →
What Fleet Employers Are Missing When Hiring Veterans
What if some of the strongest candidates for fleet are already out there, but their experience is written in a language our industry does not always recognize?
Read More →
Automotive Fleet Opens 2026 Personal Use Survey for Commercial Fleet Managers
Less than two weeks left! Commercial and corporate fleet managers are invited to share how their organizations handle company vehicle personal-use policies, charges, and driver eligibility.
Read More →
What Resilient Fleets Do Differently When Conditions Change
Fleet resilience is about more than reacting to disruption. Lauren Fletcher talks with AP Fleet’s Alex Coveney about flexibility, planning, scaling, and what helps fleets adapt when business conditions shift.
Read More →
If We Want the Next Generation in Automotive, We Have to Give Them a Reason to Care
The automotive industry talks constantly about its workforce shortage. But before we can recruit the next generation, we may need to do a better job giving kids a reason to care about automotive in the first place.
Read More →
Ram ProMaster City Under $40K, Truck Tariffs, and AI Maintenance Lead the News
A sub-$40K commercial van, tariff questions, AI-powered maintenance, and a new EV production strategy headline this week’s Truck Chat Cheat Sheet.
Read More →Bob Adamsky Shares the Fleet Lessons You Usually Learn the Hard Way
After more than 30 years in fleet, Arrow International’s Bob Adamsky has learned that the job is about far more than vehicles. He shares the lessons he wishes every fleet manager could learn a little earlier.
Read More →
