UPS imposing extra delivery fees during Black Friday, holidays

June 20 (UPI) -- The United Parcel Service announced it would impose an extra fee for orders placed during Black Friday and the holiday season.

UPS said that to meet increased demand during select weeks in November and December, the company has needed to purchase additional planes and trucks. UPS also said it has needed to use temporary facilities and to employ more sorting and delivery personnel.

UPS Chief Commercial Officer Alan Gershenhorn said the rate increase will "only marginally increase" the per-package cost of shipments.

"We're focused on helping our customers achieve success during some of their most important selling seasons," Gershenhorn said in a statement on Monday. "To meet their requirements, UPS flexes its delivery network to process near double our already massive regular daily volume, and that creates exceptional demands."

An additional 27-cent charge will be imposed on the UPS Ground Residential shipping service from Nov. 19 through Dec. 2. From Dec. 17 until Dec. 23, UPS will impose an additional 81-cent fee on Next Day Air Residential shipping; a 97-cent fee on the 2nd Day Air Residential and the 3 Day Select Residential services; and the 27-fee will return for Ground Residential shipping.

UPS said, for example, the price to deliver a 5-pound UPS Next Day Air package shipped from Atlanta to a Philadelphia residence will increase 1 percent during the holidays.

In 2016, UPS hired 95,000 seasonal employees during the peak holiday season -- in which UPS delivered an average daily volume of 30 million packages, in comparison to the non-holiday average of more than 19 million daily packages.