Delivery Firms, Post Office Brace for Holiday Shipping Crunch

elivery companies are bracing for the busiest shipping days of the year this week, and the U.S. Postal Service expects Monday will be its busiest day of the year, news services reported.

UPS Inc., which expects its busiest day will be Tuesday, said it receives more than 16 million package tracking requests during the busiest days of the holiday season, while FedEx Corp. said it gets an average of 3.5 million requests daily, and had its peak delivery day Monday, the Washington Post reported

Use of technology in tracking systems is one of the most visible ways that shipping companies have transformed themselves into increasingly high-tech businesses, a response to the booming online retail sector and ever-more-demanding customers, the Post reported.

Meanwhile, the Postal Service expects Monday will be its peak mailing day, with about 900 million pieces of mail being processed, the Associated Press reported. Many local post offices have extended hours to accommodate the crush, AP said.