Parcel experts weigh in on FedEx & UPS so far throughout the COVID-19 pandemic

Nothing has been predictable or consistent in the parcel shipping industry in 2020. The onset of COVID-19 decimated shipping volumes in March and the beginning of April, as businesses sent employees home and shuttered facilities. However, parcel volumes have raged higher and higher ever since, with both FedEx and UPS reporting daily volumes at and exceeding “peak” holiday volumes.

FedEx in particular has been hit hard with capacity concerns, and the delivery giant had to scale back the amount of volume it can accept from many high-volume e-commerce shippers, the beneficiaries of the new work-from-home economy.

As businesses closed and volumes continue to overwhelm, both FedEx and UPS have suspended service guarantees. More recently, each of the delivery companies have imposed significant COVID-19-related surcharges. For many shippers, the increases come at the worst time, when they can least afford higher costs.