Black Friday Spending Spree Should Benefit Fleets

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday will show just how long and hard truckers have been working to get goods to stores — and not just turkeys and all of the trimmings for the day’s meal.

The day after Thanksgiving is critical, when a wide variety of goods hauled by trucks are displayed in stores in time for the start of consumers’ holiday spending spree. Known as “Black Friday,” it is consistently the most shopped day over Thanksgiving weekend, according to the National Retail Federation.

The group said consumers are expected to buy everything for the December gift-giving season from electronics to apparel to toy trucks.

“For some retailers, the holiday season can represent as much as 30% of annual sales,” according to the federation.

The next work day, which has become known as “Cyber Monday,” is expected to produce a swell of online sales, providing a boon to package companies.

FedEx Corp., which ranks No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, said it will hire about 55,000 temporary workers to handle the increase, while No. 1 UPS brings on as many as 95,000 workers.