FedEx will open four new hubs and dozens of satellite facilities to accommodate the delivery surge. Last year, the company hit 25 million shipments a day on three separate occasions during the holiday season, said Raj Subramaniam, an executive vice president at Fed Ex.
UPS will expand its network of temporary sorting hubs and more heavily rely on its software to sort packages quicker, said a company spokeswoman.
Both carriers also invested in automation technology to process more packages without having to hire more seasonal employees. According to their projections, UPS and FedEx will maintain a stable level of seasonal workers for two years in a row, at 95,000 and 50,000 employees, respectively.
Combined, the companies account for 40 percent to 50 percent of US deliveries, with the U.S. Postal Service having a strong hold over the other half of the market, according to Shipmatrix.
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