UPS and FedEx tell Daily Report that customers in the greater Baton Rouge area may experience flood-related service delays.
Kim Krebs, a UPS spokeswoman, says UPS buildings in Gonzales and Hammond are still being impacted by Louisiana’s historic flooding.
None of the UPS buildings in the greater Baton Rouge area took in water, says Krebs. However, flood-related road closures and access impediments limited the capacity for three UPS facilities—two in Baton Rouge and one in Gonzales—to deliver earlier this week, resulting in packages being redirected and services being delayed for some customers.
“There may have been delays—nothing stopped,” Krebs says. “Because of road closures some of the access to particular addresses was impeded.”
FedEx also says some customers may experience service delays.
“Our priority is the safety and security of our employees. We are providing service to the best of our ability in areas that can be safely accessed, but some customers may experience service delays,” the company says in a statement. “Customers with questions about the status of their shipments can check http://fedex.com or call 1-800-GO-FEDEX.”
Krebs says UPS experienced significant road closures and access impediments in 14 ZIP codes because of the flooding. Krebs was unable to provide Daily Report with information about which ZIP codes were impacted.
She says everything is now flowing fairly regularly again. Rerouted packages were sent to other UPS centers so they could continue moving through the delivery company’s network, she says.
“One of the strong points of our contingency planning is data tracking and visibility technology so that we can keep everything moving when we have these kind of emergency situations,” she says. “We can redirect how packages are getting to impacted locations and still keep business moving as best as possible.”
Both companies are urging customers to track their packages online. Neither company could provide a timeline for how long it would take for redirected packages to get to customers.
—Alexandria Burris
