Delivery companies on overdrive this holiday season
NEW YORK -- 'Tis the season to be shopping and shipping at Li-Lac Chocolates in Brooklyn where more than 20 percent of their sales will be shipped for the holidays.
"Getting gifts on time is super important they just can't be late, we really rely on the carrier to deliver when they promise they will," co-owner Anthony Cirone said.
This year Christmas lands on a Monday, giving retailers one less day to get gifts delivered on time. UPS, Fedex and the U.S. postal service are working on overdrive to collectively deliver over 60 million packages a day -- even weekends -- a 50 percent increase over normal volume.
DHL hired 6,000 additional workers to keep up with demand on this year's shipping orders that have climbed up 26 percent over last year.
"Are you seeing any glitches in your delivery system?" CBS News asked Jeff Ivory, DHL's vice president of sales.
"One of the challenges that we always have is people actually going to be home when we go for delivery. We have to cope with deliveries by putting on more flights to make sure that we have the appropriate amount of seasonal workers for delivery," Ivory said.
It's been non-stop for shipping companies this holiday seasons as e-commerce orders have exploded. Friday will only add to the shipping craze as more businesses are offering free shipping.
Max Wolff, Phoenix Group's chief economist, said shipping companies are struggling to keep up with online growth.
"The sheer volumes are so high and if you are growing your ecommerce 30-40 percent, year over year, are you growing your trucks and drivers 30 percent year over year? The answer is no," Wolff said.
The surge in holiday shipping has caused some delays. Companies say they'll deliver packages right up until Christmas Eve with some even allowing customers to pick up their presents on Christmas Day.
