The Wall Street Journal reports that FedEx has imposed limits on the number of shipments some two dozen major retailers are allowed to send, as it "tries to prevent its network from being overwhelmed during the coronavirus pandemic."
The problem is that "many retailers have seen e-commerce sales surge since they were ordered to close thousands of their stores, a shift that has unleashed a flood of packages into FedEx’s delivery network. They have converted stores into makeshift warehouses to help fulfill more of the orders, scrambling the normal flow of online shipments from distribution centers to homes."
Shipping levels at the moment are similar to what might been seen during peak periods like the end-of-year holidays, but FedEx - like its shipping brethren - usually can plan both internally ands externally for how to handle the crush effectively. But a pandemic wasn't on the calendar, leaving FedEx and its customers making up solutions as they went along.
Among the retailers affected are Bed Bath & Beyond, Eddie Bauer, Kohl's, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom.
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Particularly interesting in view of our next story…
