Shipping companies have mixed results at the start of 2021

After Christmas, shipping companies often see a small drop in freight. People are done with holiday shopping and their wallets can breathe and regroup. This year, some companies and drivers are concerned about an unusual drop in deliveries.

Gustavo Ramirez is an independent contractor with Ontrac. “Honestly, it feels a lot better than what it did during Christmas, but it does bother me and some of the other guys here,” Ramirez said. “Yeah, we don’t have to stress as much since we’re not out driving as much, but it impacts us as far as pay since we get paid by the stop. I hope we can pick up some steam pretty soon.”

Warehouse inventory has seen lower numbers than usual. “Usually around peak season (holidays) we average about 12,000 per day in the warehouse, and after that we drop to about 7,000 when January comes around,” said Ontrac manager Harold Valenzuela. “This year, we’ve gone down to 5,000 per day and it shows when most of the drivers are done with their routes by noon or a few hours after. Usually, we would have drivers coming back to reload, but that’s just not the case right now.”

Not all shipping companies are seeing a dramatic drop in deliveries, as not all rely on a holiday upswing. Charles Hindman is a delivery driver for TWM Wholesale and says that things are going as usual for his company. “We took a small dip, but nothing that would worry us,” Hindman said. “We had seen the small drop mainly due to the pandemic, which most companies did, but the advantage we have is that we don’t need to depend on certain times of the year to keep up deliveries. Luckily, we have steady business all year-round.”

Shipping companies expect delivery numbers to increase with the arrival of tax refunds.