UPS Monitors The Weather…Way More Than You Think

[caption id="attachment_5351" align="alignleft" width="331" caption="The Success Of UPS"][/caption]

When it comes to delivering packages, there is no greater company then UPS. But have you ever taken into consideration how important the weather is for them? Be sure to read up on the great article from Jennifer Levitz of The Wall Street Journal, as she examines how UPS manages their business with the weather always on their mind:

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Lots of people like a white Christmas, but the notion keeps United Parcel Service Inc. up all night.

"I don't want any of that," said Jeff Chestnut, a flight-control manager who shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday was on "the bridge"—a Star Trek-style command post deep in UPS's global air-shipping hub—monitoring a snowstorm in Cologne, Germany, that was preventing one of UPS's jets from taking off.

"People are expecting their presents," he said. "Grandmas have been online making sure they're going to get their gifts to their families. There are a lot of expectations out there and we don't want to let anyone down."

But the effect of a delayed package goes beyond a crestfallen kid on Christmas morning.

Weather is the biggest cost variable for freight shippers, affecting everything from flight takeoffs and landings, to added fuel costs when planes are diverted.

Freight operators generally have to eat the cost when a shipment doesn't make its delivery on time, so snow, ice, rain, and fog can frost their bottom lines.

UPS expects this week to be its busiest of the year, and estimates it will ship 120 million packages, 6% more than in the same week last year.

Each late shipment will cost UPS between $5 and $30 in revenue, said spokesman Mike Mangeot.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal