| The Chicago Sun Times--Monday was expected to be the busiest day in FedEx history, with nearly 16 million packages moving on its conveyor belts, trucks and planes. That’s up 13 percent from 14.2 million on the busiest day last year, and double what the company handles on a normal day. Monday’s jump in shipments bodes well for the nation’s retailers, online stores and larger rival UPS, which expects its single busiest day will be Dec. 22, when it will move about 24 million packages. FedEx’s busiest day is the high-water mark of a holiday season in which it expects to move 223.3 million shipments worldwide. About half of the increase is from the company's SmartPost partnership with the U.S. Postal Service. SmartPost moves lighter, cheaper packages through FedEx that are then delivered by a postal worker. A growing number of online and catalog purchases is driving growth in that unit and across the company. Read more! |
