Express, parcel and mail operators are cutting back their US East Coast operations and services inpreparation for the approach of Hurricane Sandy, which is due to hit the US eastern seaboard this
evening and which has led to the cancellation of most international flights to and from US EastCoast airports.A UPS spokesman told CEP-Research that the company’s Contingency Planning Group had beenworking all weekend on alternative operating plans in the face of Hurricane Sandy, and that UPS hadtwo overriding goals in storm situations: safety and service. “First, we want to protect ourpeople, assets and customers’ shipments. And we work to maintain service levels as best as ‘MotherNature’ will allow,” he said.
“Based on the weather data available to us as of midday Sunday, we have shut down the Mondaynight and Tuesday daytime air sort at our regional hub in Philadelphia (PHL). Our European trunkroutes into the east coast will fly directly into Worldport as the all-points international air hubin Louisville.
“In addition to PHL, we will not fly into or out of Baltimore, Dulles, Newark, New York andHarrisburg, PA between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. We will move the aircraft in thosegateways to Louisville to position them for Tuesday operations.”
UPS said it would “continue to evaluate dynamic conditions in several other gateways” rangingfrom Roanoke, VA to multiple locations in New York state.
“In terms of our ground delivery and pickup operations, we will attempt to serve ourcustomers as normally as safety and local restrictions permit up and down the eastern seaboard,”UPS added. “We’ll also be in communication with large customers to check their own operations forMonday pick up. Where service is interrupted, we will leverage our flexible air and ground networksto resume operations in impacted locations as quickly as possible.” UPS said service updates onthis dynamic situation would also be available on its website.
FedEx said it was continuing to monitor the path of Hurricane Sandy, which it said wasprojected to make landfall along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. A spokesman toldCEP-Research that in storm-affected coastal areas, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight andFedEx Office may modify operations as needed today, and apologised for any inconvenience tocustomers.
“There’s nothing more important to us than the safety of our team members and customers,” hesaid. “It is important to remember that FedEx has nearly 40 years experience handling thesesituations and we have contingency plans in place to quickly resume operations after the storm haspassed.
“It is possible that local service delays may occur in areas that are restricted byauthorities or inaccessible because of road closures, flooding, downed power lines and stormdebris. FedEx.com will be updated with the latest information.”
A spokesman for DHL Express told CEP-Research: “At this moment in time, DHL has delayed onetransatlantic flight into JFK airport, scheduled to depart on Tuesday morning. This will lead to anexpected delay of one day for a limited number of shipments into and out of NYC and surroundingareas. We are reviewing contingency options for a small number of airports that are closed in theBahamas region, and are monitoring the situation closely with regard to other cities in theaffected area. Our flight schedule into our main Americas hub in Cincinnati is unaffected atpresent.”
The US Postal Service reported that preparation for Hurricane Sandy had resulted in thecancellation of FedEx transportation to the following locations today (29 October): Baltimore, MD;Boston, MA; Bradley, CT; Dulles, VA; Harrisburg, PA; Lehigh Valley, PA; Philadelphia, PA;Providence, RI; Newark, NJ; New York, NY; Stewart Airport, NY; Washington, DC.
