Santa?s little helpers will be wearing brown this year.
Delivering and processing packages for the Greater Baltimore area, employees at the UPS locations in Glen Burnie, Towson and Hunt Valley will be working more than their fair share of overtime to help make sure local Christmas trees are surrounded by gifts.
“This is a very exciting time at UPS over the holidays, and we want to get all those packages out to you,” said Deanna Cain, a UPS public relations spokeswoman for the Atlantic District.
Today is UPS? busiest day of the year, with an estimated five packages being delivered every second of the day, equaling an exhausting total of 393,000 delivered and processed parcels. Worldwide, UPS will deliver an estimated 21 million packages during the day, up from its average of 15 million on a typical day.
“Non-holiday [loading] starts at 4 a.m. and takes ?til about 8 a.m.,” said Dominique Jordan, the technical manager for the Hunt Valley delivering and processing site. “Now, they are starting the packing day at 2 a.m. in the morning, with volume more than doubling this time of year.”
In order to accommodate the demand, UPS facilities have been hiring part-time employees. These extra hands help to fit packages into overloaded trucks or even ride along with a driver to help unload a truck. For the season, about 415 part-timers have been hired for the Greater Baltimore area, with 111 serving as loaders and sorters and 298 providing assistance to route drivers. Worldwide 60,000 seasonal workers will help to make sure all the presents get to the right homes in time for Christmas.
This rigorous work can get tiring for the drivers, as they make more than 232 stops during a daily holiday shift, more than double their normal load of 100. However, their shifts are closely monitored, and anywhere from 70 to 100 helpers ride along on the routes each day.
“The technology our drivers have now is amazing,” Jordan said. “If you?re at 123 Elm and supposed to be at 123 Oak,” the drivers? electronic organizers will alert them.
