NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- UPS got a big, black eye for Christmasalast year. The shipping giant's network of distribution centers andabrown trucksawas overwhelmed during the holidays by a surge in online orders, especially via Amazon , causing massive delays in shipments and a social media firestorm. So it's no surprise that UPS is investing in everything from trucks to distribution centers this year to prevent a repeat performance. UPS expects its 2014 capital expenditures to total $2.5 billion, up from $2.1 billion last year. Must Read: 7 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Selling in 2014 "The pace of investment will accelerate as the year progresses," said UPS CFO Kurt Kuehn on the first-quarter earnings call in April. It's a good thing, too. UPS' daily package volume -- comprised of its next-day air, deferred and ground shipments -- has already increased 5.8% year to date, underscoring why these investments are critical as the company heads into the holiday season. E-commerce sales, meanwhile, surged 15.7% in the second quarter from a year earlier, dwarfing the 4.4% growth in total retail sales. On Cyber Mondayalast year, customers ordered more than 36.8 million items worldwide on Amazon, or a record 426 items per second. More than half of Amazon's customers used mobile devices during the holiday season. This year, strong sales of Apple's new larger-screen iPhonesaare likely to increase the number of online orders, testing not only UPS but rival FedEx . FedEx increased its capital expenditures for the quarter ended Aug. 31 to $720 million from $572 million a year earlier. Amazon, meanwhile, is bolstering its own network of sorting and distribution centers in a bid to reduce shipment times. Research from ChannelAdvisors indicates that Amazon has built 38 new fulfillment centers in North America over the past year and a half and an additional 15 "sortation centers," which are smaller warehouses that sort merchandise from fulfillment centers by zip code. Amazon now has 158 fulfillment centers around the world, notes ChannelAdvisor. Here, then, are the four areas where UPS is investing to meet the expected surge in holiday shipping. Must Read: Twitter has Plans to Revolutionize Commerce and Here is How 1. 95,000 seasonal workers will be hired, almost double the number from 2013. aMust Read: Dunkin' Donuts has Plans to Add a Jolt to Slowing Sales 2. 50 new hubs have been built to sort packages, boosting network capacity by 5%. Must Read: How Facebook Atlas Poses a Huge Threat to Yahoo!’s Already Flagging Display Business 3. Thousands of new or leased vehicles, trailers, aircraft and package-loading aids have been added. Must Read: Why Apple Pay May Have Finally Convinced eBay to Spin Off PayPal 4. The number of people hired to put packages on trucks has increased by 10%. Must Read: What, Me Worry? 4 Reasons Why We're Not at a Market Top Yet
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