UPS, FedEx clearing backlog of late packages

United Parcel Service workers scrambled to deliver a huge backlog of late packages Wednesday for frustrated recipients.

Although weather conditions hadn't affected drivers for several days, the recent bout of snow that paralyzed the Seattle area for several days put UPS behind, said spokesman Trevor Williams.

About 150,000 packages were late at the height of the backlog, but Williams said he expected nearly all to have reached their destinations by the end of Wednesday, with whatever remained to be delivered by Friday.

Wednesday — New Year's Eve — was a UPS holiday, but employees worked through the day and worked overtime, Williams said. They won't deliver today.

"The weather did put us significantly behind schedule," he said. "Our drivers have been delivering from dawn until way past dusk every day to deliver as many packages as possible."

But people still waiting on Wednesday afternoon were displeased not just with the delay but with the inability to get answers from UPS about the status of their shipments.

Garth Liljegren, of Woodinville, had been waiting for his wife's temperature-sensitive medication for multiple sclerosis. It arrived a week late, and he said it had been sitting for days in an unheated UPS truck.

"That was $4,000 worth of medicine that I did everything I could to save," Liljegren said. He wound up driving to a Bothell pharmacy to replace the medicine. He said he was still waiting for four more late parcels.

"Normally when something goes haywire, you see people popping out of the woodwork trying to make things right, but in this case I see nothing," he said. "My concern with UPS is I would like to see them do a little soul-searching and make a plan for how to deal with this in the future."

Mary Beth Abarbanel, of Bainbridge Island, said she'd been expecting a package from UPS since Dec. 17. Even more irritating than the lateness, she said, was what she perceived to be rude attitudes and a refusal to communicate among the UPS employees she'd called.

Williams responded: "It's frustrating for them, it's dismaying for us, too. The last thing in the world we want is to make customers wait. It's very disheartening."

FedEx said that it, too, expects to be "totally caught up by Saturday" on its deliveries in Washington and Oregon.

Spokeswoman Sally Davenport said that as of Wednesday, "We're in pretty good shape — 90 percent of packages in Washington are delivered."

She said that volunteer FedEx drivers will work today to help clear the backlog. Its counter operations will not be open today, she said.

Seattle Times staff reporter Erik Lacitis contributed to this report.

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259 or mrahner@seattletimes.com