Damian Dovarganes / AP
To cope with the surge of online holiday shopping and lagging delivery, the United Parcel Service has told drivers at more than 100 different centers that they may ask them to work 70 hours over 8 days instead of 60 over 7 days. UPS has also added 1-2 days to some transit times and surcharges for packages shipped during peak times, according to Wall Street Journal.
Why it matters: In order for the online shopping boom to last, delivery services have to keep up with the demand. UPS has already invested billions in new warehouses and automation, but ShipMatrix, a company that analyzes shipping data, said that only 89.2% of UPS packages arrived on time last week.
Pushback: James Hoffa, president of the union that represents UPS drivers, sent a letter to UPS CEO David Abndey, saying: “I fail to understand how the Company neglected to take the steps necessary to ensure that it had a sufficient number of trained workers available to meet the demand generated by the digital economy."