Hanukkah was not so happy for many who did not get their gifts on time. And now Christmas could come too late for millions of others expecting presents at their doorstep.
Deliveries across the country are being slowed by record-breaking online orders, a Nor’easter, COVID-19 vaccine shipments and workers imposed by the infection, new figures show.
The delays are so severe that retailers large and small are warning 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 West 12th Street. “It doesn’t matter if it’s across the country or from Manhattan to Queens, things get stuck.”
The US Postal Service, FedEx and UPS saw their on-time delivery rates drop in the second week of December compared to the previous two weeks, according to technology company ShipMatrix, which analyzed delivery schedules from more than 100,000 shipping locations nationwide.
USPS took its biggest hit in the week of December 6. Postal carriers delivered about 88% of packages on time, compared to 93% in the weeks of November 22 and November 29. FedEx fell from 95% to 94% and UPS slipped only slightly – from 96.3% to 96.1%.
The numbers mean more than 3.5 million parcels are delivered at least a day late, ShipMatrix said Friday.
Winter storm Gail slowed things down even more by dumping a whopping 40 inches of snow over the Northeast this week. Customers in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New York suffer the most, as their on-time deliveries drop to the high 80’s, the company reported.
FedEx and UPS are no longer accepting packages at some of their locations, and the backlog is falling to USPS, said ShipMatrix president Satish Jindal.
“The post office has the capacity to handle 36 million parcels per day, and instead of 36 they will get six million more in this peak season,” said Jindal.
FedEx only partially operated in 16 states on Friday, according to its website. On Thursday, UPS posted a notice online to warn customers that it has suspended its money-back guarantee for packages that do not arrive by a specified date.
The shipping industry is expected to deliver 3 billion parcels this holiday season, up from 2.2 billion last year – a wave of online orders from shoppers who are suspicious of COVID in a store.
Delays have been exacerbated by the absence of COVID-related deliverers, shipping companies say. Fedex and USPS also supply the coronavirus vaccine.
Some major retailers warn customers about late deliveries. Macy’s began telling customers on Monday that it couldn’t guarantee delivery on December 24, and furniture and home goods retailer Crate & Barrel reported on its website on Friday that the closing of the Christmas shipment had expired.
And the delays have been another blow to the city’s independent retailers, who have seen their visitor numbers drop this year.
“Due to the increased order volume and COVID-19, there may be a delay in shipping your order. Thanks for your patience! <3, ”according to an online message posted Friday by The Pink Olive, a boutique with three city locations and an upstate.