Max Garland | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Commercial Appeal

Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal

FedEx customers were more likely to get their 2018 holiday shipments on time than in 2017, but rival UPS and the U.S. Postal Service edged out the Memphis delivery giant in that department, new data shows.

FedEx delivered 97.6 percent of peak season parcels on time in 2018, up slightly from 2017’s 97.4 percent, according to ShipMatrix, a firm analyzing shipping data.

During the company’s quarterly earnings call in December, FedEx Express CEO Raj Subramaniam said 2018 saw “yet another record peak season for FedEx” that featured “record service levels.”

“We are extremely proud of the excellent service levels that we achieved this peak season, especially given the increase in volumes,” he said, adding the first three Mondays of December were among the busiest days in FedEx history.

ShipMatrix pegged the 2018 peak season, when customers rush to order holiday gifts, as being from Nov. 18 through Dec. 29. For 2017, the peak season was from Nov. 19 through Dec. 30.

Loading…

Meanwhile, UPS improved upon its 2017 peak season performance and leapfrogged FedEx in 2018, jumping from 95.3 percent of deliveries on time to 98.3 percent, per ShipMatrix.

More UPS shipping hubs to handle capacity, hiring seasonal workers earlier and further automated delivery systems to help those new workers contributed to UPS’ showing, said ShipMatrix founder Satish Jindel on Monday.

But FedEx shouldn’t be concerned by UPS’ slightly better on-time performance, Jindel said in a follow-up email Tuesday.

“UPS had a lot more work to do in 2018 to improve from 95.3 percent in 2017,” he said. “In addition, the difference is so slight (0.7) that it is hardly noticeable by the shippers or the recipients of the packages.”

{{props.notification}} {{props.tag}} {{props.expression}} {{props.linkSubscribe.text}} {{#modules.acquisition.inline}}{{/modules.acquisition.inline}} ... Our reporting. Your stories. Get unlimited digital access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now

Plus, FedEx doesn’t adjust transit times during peak season like UPS does, Jindel noted. FedEx Ground is already more aggressive with transit times, too, with 26 percent of its lanes being faster than UPS Ground by a day or more, he said.

The U.S. Postal Service stayed on top with 98.8 percent of shipments for its USPS Parcel Select service delivered on time during 2018 peak, compared to 98.2 percent the year before.

Volume data for the 2018 peak season hasn’t been released by FedEx or UPS, but UPS said earlier it expected to deliver 800 million packages during that timeframe.

FedEx didn’t disclose its projections in 2018. In 2017, FedEx expected to handle 400 million packages in peak season.

Get unlimited digital access to the news that moves Memphis with a subscription to the Commercial Appeal. Click here for a special offer on a digital subscription.