Two of the three major parcel-delivery carriers set multiyear records for delivery performance during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday cycle, a performance helped by less delivery demand and moves by two of the carriers to add an extra day to their holiday schedules, according to data published Tuesday by consultancy ShipMatrix Inc.
According to the data, UPS (NYSE: UPS) posted a 98% on-time delivery performance, while FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) came in at 97.8%. During the same period in 2022, UPS posted a 96.6% on-time delivery rate, while FedEx posted a 95.3% on-time rate. It’s been several years since UPS and FedEx performed this well during the hectic front end of the holiday cycle.
The U.S. Postal Service posted a 95.2% on-time delivery rate during the 2023 cycle, down from 95.8% in 2022. Data from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) was unavailable.
UPS and FedEx are expected to maintain high service levels through the holidays in part because there aren’t as many packages to ship as there were last year, ShipMatrix said. The consultancy projected that 82 million parcels will be delivered, on average, each day during the peak cycle. Last year, that number exceeded 90 million. Meanwhile, ShipMatrix said that the market has holiday delivery capacity equal to 120 million parcels, thus tight capacity will not be an issue.
In addition, UPS and FedEx have relaxed their transit times on many lanes by adding an extra day to their delivery schedules. For example, parcels shipped via UPS from New York to Chicago, which may have had a commit time of two days, now have a three-day commit time, ShipMatrix said. Parcels shipped via FedEx from Los Angeles to New Jersey now have a five-day commit time instead of a four-day window previously.
Another issue not cited in the data was the higher percentage of holiday orders placed as early as October in response to retailer promotions that began earlier than usual.
Satish Jindel, ShipMatrix’s president, said the moves allow for smoother, more effective load planning by the carriers. Retailers and consumers should have no trouble hitting their delivery and receiving cutoffs unless consumers wait until a day or two before Christmas to place their orders, he said.
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