If you are the type that uses FedEx shipping services very well, then chances are that you must have at one time experienced FedEx operational delay. It is an umbrella term that means more than just one thing. If you are experiencing FedEx operational delay for the first time, you might be confused and start asking what it means.
In this post, we will show you all that you need to know about FedEx operational delay and why it happens most of the time.
FedEx is a multinational conglomerate holding company and a super giant in the e-commerce, transportation, and logistics industry. It has a service wideband that covers the world as a whole. FedEx offers, by default, overnight, 2-day, and ground delivery options. Presently, this company transports about twelve million shipments to every part of the world daily.
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What Does FedEx Operational Delay Means?
It is true that FedEx air shipping services’ main hub at Memphis International Airport (known as the ‘Superhub’) is one of the busiest cargo airports in the world. And also that FedEx’s prominence in the United States—their country of origin and the world at large may only be rivaled by their only competitor, UPS (United Parcel Service).
But even at that, FedEx, despite its nonstick image as a reputable company, has its own shortcomings. Only 85% of its shipments make it to their final destination on time, leaving roughly 15% of these deliveries in either an unresolved status or delay.
However, one of the main reasons a package or shipment may end up being delayed or in an unresolved status is what is termed an ‘Operational delay’. FedEx operational delay is a term typically used by FedEx to address operational issues or cases that can possibly lead to potential delays in the shipping process of cargo and packages.
In a technical sense, operational delay are conditions or phenomenon – natural or artificial that affect the status and time of arrival of a package. In most cases, these conditions are beyond the control and jurisdiction of FedEx and are not the sender’s or receiver’s fault either.
What Usually Causes FedEx Operational Delay?
FedEx’s Operational delay may happen due to various reasons. These can either be natural factors or artificial ones. Natural causes and incidents that could cause FedEx operational delay are severe or bad weather, natural disasters, and global pandemic.
Some artificial factors can also cause FedEx operational delay. Some of these factors could include airports closure, equipment or mechanical failure, wars and insurgency, port congestion, labor strikes, planes, and vehicular unavailability, customs holds, etc.
All these can cause a delay in the transfer of a package to local courier services.
What does it means when you see an ‘operational delay’ on your FedEx tracking information?
As explained above, when you come across an ‘Operational delay’ prompt on your FedEx tracking information, what it simply means is that your package is stuck somewhere in between the FedEx shipping process.
An operational delay may occur just anywhere at any given point in time. It may occur at the country of origin/origin facility, throughout the routing hubs, or even at the destination facility. In some rare cases also, operational delays may result solely from a glitch from FedEx or other rare cases like labor strikes within the company.
How Long Does It Take FedEx to Deliver a Package?
FedEx is one of the most well-known delivery companies in the world. They offer a wide range of services, including package delivery and courier services for small businesses and large corporations alike.
Although FedEx has been in business since 1973, it only started offering same-day delivery in 1996. Before that, customers had to wait for two or three days before their packages were delivered. However, today’s customers want things immediately – and that’s where FedEx comes in!
By default, FedEx takes less than a day to deliver packages within local cities or states and 1-2 business days for an International delivery transit.
How Long Does It Take to Resolve a FedEx Operational Delay Issue?
This is generally a tricky question to answer as different operational issues within the FedEx shipping process takes different time to resolve.
As most operational delays or issues are unforeseen and unpremeditated, it should be known that tackling these issues may also take time. Time in which the FedEx management team will use to analyze and assess at first the possible cause of the delay. Then, they can now proceed to take necessary actions to resolve or provide a temporary solution to bypass them.
However, in most cases, most FedEx operational delays will be resolved within 2 to 3 working days. That said, there is no set or fixed time to resolve FedEx operational delays arising from natural phenomena. That’s because those ones are mostly out of FedEx’s control, like poor weather, natural disaster, or unforeseen developments or crises within the country of origin or that of the package destination.
Additionally, shipments made through FedEx or other services like FedEx Ground may get stuck and takes longer than ten days or a maximum of one month to reach their destinations (depending on the contingency).
All things considered, it should be known that no matter what the cause of the delay in shipment delivery is, FedEx staff are working tirelessly around the clock to resolve this issue and bring the world closer to their customers.
What to Do When You Encounter a FedEx Operational Delay?
Once you encounter a FedEx operational delay message on your delivery update status, the first step to take is to check your package tracking details for more information regarding the delay. You can do this by simply clicking on the “Get Status Update” on the FedEx website interface.
Doing this will give you a general overview of where your package is currently located and what the likely causes of the delay are.
Another suitable course of action is to reach FedEx customer service at 1 (800) 463-3339 to get additional information and insights on the cause of the delay.
In some cases, too, your package may have arrived ahead of time at a local FedEx depot, whereas FedEx is having a problem getting a local courier to get it delivered to you. All you need to do in this case is, arrange for a direct pick up of your package directly from the depot. This will ensure that your shipment gets to you on time without delay.
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