UPS to add Sunday deliveries in the US next year

UPS will be adding Sunday delivery services in the United States from Jan 1st 2020, following in FedEx’s footsteps.

UPS already offers Saturday delivery, but has said it will also be bolstering its volume of Saturday drivers. FedEx announced in May that it would start delivering seven days a week next year, after bumping it up to six days in 2018.

UPS said that its Sunday service—which has so far been limited to the likes of high-value and critical healthcare shipments—would include SurePost, in which deliveries are passed on to the United States Postal Service (USPS) for last-mile fulfilment.

“Building on an expanded relationship with the Postal Service to help deliver seven-day service to our customers makes good business sense,” said Kevin Warren, UPS’ chief marketing officer.

Sunday deliveries will be supported by UPS’ new class of “hybrid” drivers, created as part of their new five-year contract with the union—those who both sort packages at the hub and make deliveries, rather than delivering full-time. These drivers don’t have the same overtime restrictions as full-time drivers and are paid on a lesser scale, giving UPS more flexibility.

Source: Reuters, Bloomberg

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