UPS workers may go out on strike as early as late July, looking for better pay and improved working conditions. Should they go out on strike, there’s a good chance that most parcel deliveries will have to be dealt with by the US Postal Service. During its off-peak season, UPS handles more than 22,000,000 packages daily. USPS claims it can handle a further 30,000,000 packages daily, thereby surpassing UPS’s volume, but that claim hasn’t been substantiated. Therefore, its not clear if the USPS will be able to contend with the sudden increase in package volume nor is it certain when the strike will end. As a result, increased volume could impact the speed at which the USPS can deliver parcels, at least for the duration of the strike. As a result, we strongly recommend that you keep any tracking information we send you on hand so that you can monitor the progress of your delivery and avoid any disappointment.

Obviously, should the strike drag on into the holiday shopping season, then all bets are off, particularly if FedEx pilots walk off the job in sympathy with the UPS workers. Earlier today, FedEx pilots failed to ratify a tentative agreement they had reached with management back in May that would have met most of their demands.

In other news, Volusion, our web hosting solution, has not implemented the recently introduced Retail Ground Advantage shipping option within their shipping framework. As soon as they do, we will discontinue both First Class and Parcel Post shipping options in favor of this new class of delivery. This service is expected to be implemented by mid August, however, we will make a formal announcement once this service is made available.

News Update: On Tuesday, July 25th, CNBC reported that the Teamsters and UPS have reached a tentative agreement that would prevent a walkout from occurring on July 31st. Naturally, UPS workers will have to vote on the plan for it to take effect but it appears as if a strike has been averted.