The FedEx sorting and packaging processing facility at Ontario International Airport in Ontario, Calif., Jan. 12, 2021.
But with the labor contract between UPS and 325,000 of its workers expiring at the end of the month and a potential strike looming, business owners around the country are facing what could be the latest in a series of supply chain disruptions that they have confronted since the start of the pandemic.Some are preemptively turning to FedEx, the next largest private carrier in the United States, or the U.S. Postal Service.
Since 2020, the pandemic has strained the global supply chain in a number of ways. E-commerce reached record levels as stuck-at-home Americans bought clothes, furniture, workout equipment and groceries online. Companies had to navigate COVID-related shutdowns at factories in China and Vietnam. There were worldwide delays when a large container ship got stuck in the Suez Canal, leading to containers piling up at the Port of Los Angeles.
The Postal Service said in an emailed statement that it “has a strong network, and we have the capacity to deliver what is tendered to us.” Some third-party carriers are seeing a boost in their businesses as the possibility of a UPS strike comes into focus for their clients. Stord, a third-party logistics and technology provider based in Atlanta whose clients include apparel makers and consumer-package companies, has been sending emails out telling its clients not to worry. Stord uses a cloud-based platform to offer services like warehousing and fulfillment and handles tens of thousands of their packages a day.