Purolator and UPS have suspended shipments from some couriers to try to catch up amid an influx of packages that would normally be sent through Canada Post.
Purolator told CBC News on Thursday that it had frozen service to some partners, citing the need to “prioritize critical deliveries” due to inclement weather and a surge in package volumes.
Courier companies such as eShipper act as intermediaries between small e-commerce companies and large shipping companies. But now, eShipper is among the companies temporarily banned from sending packages through Purolator, which is owned by UPS and Canada Post.
In a notice sent to customers Thursday obtained by CBC News, eShipper said “no packages will be processed or moved by these carriers” for 48 hours starting Wednesday. The update comes after eShipper informed clients on Wednesday that Purolator is considering limiting shipments to 1,500 items per day.
Purolator said in a statement Friday that the deadline was not based on that and that “this is a temporary measure and will be lifted as soon as possible.” UPS did not respond to a request for comment.
Imtiaz Kelmali, eShipper’s vice president of sales and marketing, told CBC News that the platform works with more than 25,000 Canadian businesses to provide customers with a variety of shipping options when selling products online. He said he is connecting businesses.
UPS and Purolator are some of the major carriers.
“It’s really important to help them get back to normal,” he said. “There will be some slowdown after Monday, but the next two weeks leading up to Christmas will be even heavier.”
As the Canada Post strike continues, FedEx is also facing “increased demand,” spokesperson James Anderson told CBC News in a statement Friday.
To address this, “a temporary limit of five packages per drop-off has been introduced at FedEx retail locations,” he said.
Canada Post announced Thursday that it is considering a new counterproposal submitted by the union representing more than 55,000 postal workers who retired three weeks ago.
Workers have gone on strike over disputes over wages that have not kept pace with inflation and disagreements over staffing levels to expand weekend deliveries.
Canada Post wants to hire part-time workers at lower wages on weekends, creating a lower-tier workforce with fewer job protections and replacing existing workers who can work weekend shifts, unions say. It said the job security for full-time workers could be compromised.
Clarence Uesma, an associate professor and transportation logistics expert at the University of Waterloo, said it makes sense for Purolator and UPS to restrict some shipments through third-party platforms. .
“Given the volume of parcels that Canada Post was transporting before the strike began, and the existing capacity that couriers like UPS and FedEx have, it is simply not possible to absorb all of this extra volume of parcels. “It’s possible,” he told CBC News Edmonton.
“It’s not surprising that they would pause some of their non-core distribution activities.”
Network is “saturated”
A business owner in Squamish, British Columbia, told CBC News he first learned of the potential delivery interruptions from a local UPS driver on Wednesday.
John Thorpe, owner of Midnight Lightning, which sells mountaineering equipment, primarily chalk, said drivers are saying, “Their warehouses are basically full and the network is saturated at the moment, so UPS is accepting fewer packages. “I’m doing it,” he said.
If the disruption lasts for more than a few days, shipments will have to be rescheduled, which would “become an even greater burden.”
Although most of their business is supplying products to retailers, they can also sell products online to private customers, usually via Canada Post. When Canada Post went on strike, they had to switch to other carriers at higher rates, scaring some customers, Thorpe said.
“If you order a $12 or $15 item and the shipping is $15, that’s almost impossible.”
Thorp added that her neighbor recently tried to open a new business shipping account with UPS, but was told that UPS was at capacity and was not currently opening new accounts.
Arbitration negotiations between Canada Post and the union representing its workers have collapsed nearly two weeks after the nationwide strike began. Andrew Chan explains what the two countries want to achieve and why the gap between them remains wide.
Not all delivery platforms are yet affected by the UPS and Purolator backlog.
Jay Pizzo, vice president of sales for shipping platform Freightcom, told CBC News on Friday that Freightcom and its e-commerce platform ClickShip are experiencing an “influx of business” during the Canada Post strike, but are still shipping said it was possible. All carriers including Purolator and UPS. Freightcom and ClickShip together support 30,000 Canadian businesses, Pizzo said.
Kelmari also noted that eShipper offers a number of smaller alternative carriers, many of which emerged during the pandemic’s online ordering boom, and are now approaching it to offer more coverage. He pointed out that it had changed.
However, shipping in Canada varies widely by region, limiting your options.
Pantyhose manufacturer Sheertex told The Canadian Press that some alternative carriers it has encountered are introducing “significantly increased prices” on shipments. Another Montreal-based company, gourmet cookie maker Felix & Norton, told The Canadian Press that it can’t even fulfill orders right now “because we can’t ship.”
“Canada Post has that market share.”
Because the majority of personal mail and packages typically go through Canada Post as well as packages from small and medium-sized businesses, companies like Purolator, UPS, FedEx, and other private carriers have oversized packages that fill a niche. Bandwidth remains to provide more specific delivery services such as .
The Canada Post outage is tipping the balance, highlighting just how essential the postal service is.
“Once you start having these ripple effects through other carriers, it’s no longer just the companies that normally do business with Canada Post,” Thorp said.
“The fact that these other companies don’t have the capacity is proof that Canada Post has that market share,” union negotiator Jim Gallant told CBC News Edmonton.
“These other carriers can’t handle what we’re handling. The infrastructure that Canada Post has is, as far as I know, the largest infrastructure in the country.”
