With the holiday season rapidly approaching, delivery services are bracing for what some are calling “shipageddon," with a potential shortfall of as many as 7 million packages a day.
UPS and FedEx have told some of their shippers that they have already reached most of their capacity, according to The Wall Street Journal.
That shortage could mean up to 7 million packages a day between Thanksgiving and Christmas could face delays, Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix software and consulting provider, told NBC News.
“This will be an unprecedented peak season, and there will be days within the holiday season where the entire industry is constrained,” Brie Carere, executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at FedEx, told NBC News’ Jo Ling Kent.
“We are working with all of our customers to really smooth their demand. We're asking retailers and merchants to pull forward their sales and I think we've already seen that in the industry.”
The company coins it “shipathon,” having experienced peak levels since March.
“Basically, we've been gearing up for the last six months for this holiday season,” Carere told NBC News.
UPS is also addressing the concern.
“We are working closely with our large and medium customers to steer volume to capacity and ensure the UPS network is reliable for all customers. We align the value we provide to our customers with our pricing and our cost to serve,” according to a UPS spokesperson.
This comes as more consumers are looking to shop online and earlier amid the pandemic.
This article originally appeared on NBC News
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