Amid an influx of packages that would normally be sent through Canada Post, Purolator and UPS have paused shipments from some courier companies in order to catch up.
Purolator said in an email that severe weather and a surge in package volumes prompted it to freeze service for some partners, citing the need to “prioritize critical shipments.”
“We are assessing the condition of our network hourly and will make all attempts to remove the service suspension as soon as possible,” the company told CBC News Thursday.
Couriers such as eShipper, which act as middlemen between smaller e-commerce businesses and large carriers, are among the companies temporarily barred from shipping with Purolator and UPS.
In a notice sent to clients on Thursday and obtained by CBC News, eShipper stated that “no shipments will be processed or moved by these carriers” for 48 hours, starting Wednesday. The update came after eShipper informed clients on Wednesday that Purolator was considering a daily limit of 1,500 shipments.
Imtiaz Kermali, vice president of sales and marketing at eShipper, told CBC News that the platform works with over 25,000 Canadian businesses, connecting them to various shipping options that they can offer to customers when selling products online.
UPS and Purolator are some of their primary carriers.
“It’s very, very important that we help them get back to normal,” he said. “After Monday, it’s a slowdown to a certain extent, and then the next two weeks going into Christmas are even more heavier.”
FedEx is also experiencing “increased volume demands” amid the ongoing Canada Post strike, spokesperson James Anderson told CBC News in a statement Friday.
To manage this, “a temporary limit of five packages per drop-off has been introduced at FedEx retail locations,” he said.
Canada Post said Thursday it was reviewing new counter-proposals submitted by the union representing more than 55,000 postal employees, who walked off the job three weeks ago.
Network is ‘saturated’
A business owner in Squamish, B.C., told CBC News that he first learned of potential shipping disruptions from his local UPS driver.
Jon Thorpe, owner of Midnight Lightning, said the driver told them on Wednesday that UPS was trying to accept less packages “because the warehouses that we have are essentially full and that the network is saturated at this point.”
If disruptions persist for more than a few days, he said, they’ll have to reschedule shipments and “it becomes much more of a burden.”
Midnight Lightning sells climbing equipment, predominantly chalk. Most of their business is providing goods wholesale to retailers, but they also sell products to individual customers through their website, which usually goes through Canada Post. When Canada Post went on strike, they had to switch to other carriers at a higher price, scaring off some customers, Thorpe said.
“When you’re ordering a $12, $15 product and shipping is $15, it’s pretty much a no-go.”
Thorpe added that his neighbour recently tried to open a new shipping account with UPS, which is a service they offer businesses, but was told that UPS is not bringing on new accounts right now because of they are at capacity.
Mediation talks between Canada Post and the union representing its workers broke down almost two weeks into the countrywide strike. Andrew Chang explains what the two sides hope to achieve, and why they’re still so far apart.
Montreal-based cookie maker Felix & Norton’s chief operating officer Simon Paquin told the Canadian Press that the cargo halt and broader postal strike fallout could cost the company its “whole holiday season.”
Normally, the vast majority of personal mail and packages go through Canada Post, as well as shipments from smaller businesses, leaving companies like Purolator, UPS, FedEx and other private carriers the space to offer more specific shipping services such as oversized packages to fill niches.
With Canada Post out of action, this balance is tipping, highlighting how essential the postal service is.
“If it starts having this ripple effect through other carriers, then it’s no longer just an impact for companies that typically deal with Canada Post, it’s now impacting other companies,” Thorpe said.
“There’s only so many carriers in Canada.”
Workers are striking due to conflicts over wages, which haven’t kept up with inflation, and disagreements over how to expand deliveries to seven days a week.
Canada Post wants to hire part-time workers at a lower rate to deliver on the weekend — creating a lower class of workers with less job protection and potentially cutting into the job security of existing full-time workers, according to the union.