How do you make sure that packages shipped using three-day delivery service make it to their destinations on time during the week before Christmas? Retailers probably didn’t like the solution that UPS used this year, but it worked to prevent a last-minute rush of packages. They simply added a day to the shipping time during the runup to Christmas.

Without a last-minute rush of packages using three-day or two-day shipping on the 21st and 22nd respectively, UPS didn’t have a sudden glut of packages going through the system, rushing to their destinations without the benefit of a magic sleigh to get them where they needed to be.

This worked: the Wall Street Journal reports that the busiest delivery day for UPS was December 21, instead of later in the week and closer to a crucial gift-giving deadline. It was better for the company to shift the shipping deadline and maybe miss some last-minute shoppers’ business than to deal with a last-minute shipping rush, paying overtime or not delivering packages at all.

A company spokesman said that most packages didn’t need extra time, but it was better to build it in than to deliver packages late if bad weather or other unexpected crises cropped up.

UPS Adds a Day to Deliver on Time [Wall Street Journal]

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