Shipping Overload Drives Shippers To Switch To Air Freight

According to a UPS report, the overload situation in ocean freight has prompted shippers to turn to air freight to address shipping delays. With a surge in logistics demand, UPS has seen significant growth in international parcel volumes and revenues, as customers place a higher emphasis on timely deliveries. Choosing air freight is set to become a new trend in modern shipping.
Shipping Overload Drives Shippers To Switch To Air Freight

The mounting pressures on ocean freight operations have become impossible to ignore. With demand continuously rising, many shippers are finding maritime delays increasingly unbearable, prompting a significant shift toward air cargo as a faster alternative. During UPS's latest earnings call, Chairman and CEO D. Scott Davis highlighted that ocean carriers are now experiencing substantial cargo backlogs, drawing intense scrutiny from freight forwarders.

Davis noted that securing containers has become markedly more difficult, with shippers planning earlier for peak seasons and increasingly opting for air transport to avoid ocean shipping uncertainties. "After experiencing last year's peak season congestion and delays, customers are all thinking: We can't let that happen again," Davis explained.

UPS has seen remarkable growth in international demand, with June data showing a 20.1% year-over-year increase in international package volume and a 37.4% surge in international freight revenue. These impressive results stem from clients who previously favored slower, low-cost shipping methods during economic downturns but now recognize the critical importance of timely deliveries—especially when container availability remains scarce.

UPS CFO Kurt Kuehn added that if economic growth remains strong, air cargo will continue to be a vital option for shippers. The current ocean freight bottlenecks are forcing even companies that typically wouldn't consider air transport before major holidays to reevaluate their logistics strategies. Embracing air cargo has emerged as a new approach to counter ocean shipping's unpredictability.

As a global leader in logistics and express delivery, UPS clearly understands that the future logistics landscape will keep evolving alongside shifting customer expectations. In this rapidly changing market, reliable and swift air cargo services undoubtedly offer the optimal solution for both shippers and consignees, helping them gain competitive advantages in today's demanding business environment. Seizing the moment by choosing air transport has become the smart move for modern freight solutions.