Holiday Season Logistical Challenges and Fun Facts

This is one of the busiest times of year for shippers and carriers, and it’s interesting to get a sense of the sheer scale of shipments specifically focused on the Christmas market. While some of these numbers may not reflect the very latest statistics, they’ll provide a close idea of what’s in motion across our country this holiday season.
25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold in the US every year - (National Christmas Tree Association). Most are grown and harvested in about 8 different states and need to be transported carefully nationwide.

76 billion candy canes are made and over
90% of them are sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Candy Canes were introduced to the US in the mid-1800’s by a German immigrant in Ohio and now 45% of all candy canes are made and shipped from that state.

More than 135 million pounds of eggnog is made and consumed every year, most probably packing less of a punch than George Washington’s personal recipe: "One quart cream, one quart milk, one dozen tablespoons sugar, one pint brandy, half pint rye whiskey, half pint Jamaican rum and one quarter pint sherry."


The US ships and sells about 4.6 million pounds of wrapping paper (about 229 million miles) every year. That’s enough to cover almost 6,000 NFL football fields!
Americans ship over 3 billion packages during the holiday season. Last year it overwhelmed the capacity of many carriers causing frustrating delays. This year carriers are working overtime to ease congestion, but they still have to move about one sixth of yearly package volume in 2 months.

The US counts on trucks to deliver nearly 70% of all freight, including manufactured and retail goods. During the holiday season trucks travel about 500 million miles. That’s further than going to Jupiter which is 482 million miles.

This year, the nation’s Christmas tree was driven by truck from California to Washington D.C. This impressive white fir is 84 feet tall and 19 feet around and traveled more than 4,000 miles to reach its destination.
The World’s Largest Christmas Present
The largest Christmas present ever shipped was the Statue of Liberty. Standing over 150 feet tall and weighing 225 tons, the statue was considered a holiday gift from France to the United States. It was presented in Paris to Levi Morton (US minister to France) in 1884, and then disassembled for shipment to New York Harbor aboard a French navy vessel, where it arrived a year later. Unfortunately, the pedestal was not completed for another year when it was finally raised on Bedloe’s Island (now Liberty Island) in 1886.
Santa's Magical Logistics

The biggest logistical challenge is the one Santa faces on December 24th and 25th. With 526 million kids celebrating Christmas, Santa has the daunting task of delivering presents to almost 22 million kids an hour. That works out to 365,000 children a minute and 6,100 every second. And you thought you were busy.


Whatever your religious or holiday preferences during this last month of the year, we wish everyone a happy season filled with the love and fellowship of family and friends!
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