Delivery Loads Spike Due To Holiday Online Shopping
Driver: 'It's Overwhelming'
Delivery loads are up across the country as more residents choose to Christmas shop online this year.
UPS driver Ben Livingston's goal is to balance the work load while keeping customers safe, and he said this holiday season is one of the busiest.
"It's overwhelming. There's so much to do," Livingston said.
UPS drivers average 200 stops a day, and Livingston said the weather this year is cooperating.
"(It's) not like in 2009 when it was a big problem then," Livingston said.
Omaha division manager Stu Severson said getting all of the packages delivered this holiday season is still a challenge.
"We usually deliver 39,000 (packages), but right now, (we're) delivering 59,000 packages. (That's) 60 percent above normal," Seversen said.
Seversen said the rise in the number of packages is due to record online shopping sales.
"We have methods, procedures and processes in place. We train them how they should deliver packages to keep (them) hidden from general public," Seversen said.
Upon request, Livingston and other drivers can deliver after hours or to secondary locations.
"Your packages (can) go from point A to point B, no hassle. That's what we strive to do," Livingston said.
Omaha police said there were two cases of packages being stolen off porches. FedEx and UPS also offer an option of holding a package at one of their offices, or customers can always track their packages.