Tracking Santa's Deliveries

For over 60 years, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) has tracked Santa’s magical flight around the globe on Christmas Eve. Over 1,000 volunteers make the program possible by handling more than 12,000 emails, and 100,000 telephone calls from over 200 countries and territories, all within about 20 hours starting at 4 am on December 24th.

An official website https://www.noradsanta.org/es/ was established which simulates the tracking of Santa’s sleigh and also tells users the exact number of presents he is delivering at any moment on Christmas Eve.

The site receives over 9 million unique visitors and is a fun way to use technology to experience the centuries-old story of Santa Claus.

In addition to the site, over 2 million people follow NORAD’s Santa specific social media accounts on Facebook and YouTube. “We hope the excitement and reaction is the same today as it was 68 years ago,” said John Ingle, a spokesman for the joint U.S.-Canadian command, which is tasked with protecting the continent from air and sea threats.



Global Freight Recession

There’s been a lot of news recently about big-name companies in the trucking industry failing including Yellow, following years of problems, and Jeff Bezos’ logistics tech company Convoy. Its Chief Executive Officer Dan Lewis blamed the market conditions, which he described as “a massive freight recession and a contraction in the capital markets”.

(FORTUNE 10/23)

The fall-off in demand for freight since the pandemic is due to many factors, one of which is high interest rates which have essentially frozen mobility in the national housing market. Tim Robertson, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Americas, said an overall climate of uncertainty is defining the market right now.

The trucking sector, after a year of financial stress, expects lower volume and revenue this holiday season and beyond into the first half of 2024. A new Supply Chain Survey suggests there may be a mildly positive upturn in the second half of next year. Logistics executives were split on how less-than-truckload carriers would manage the freight recession with half predicting a 5% increase in 2024 and the other half expecting volume to fall as much as 15%. (CNBC 10/23)

Subscription Models

E-commerce innovations are continually shifting the market with competitors always on the hunt for new ways to please customers and improve their service model. Most analysts estimate that same-day orders will account for up to 20% of all parcel deliveries which will mean the establishment of hyper-local distribution centers. There is a major push to encourage subscription models. “Recent studies predict that the subscription e-commerce market will grow from $72 billion (2021) to almost $900 billion by 2026, highlighting the demand for consistent and reliable deliveries. (Jillamy 12/23)

There is also evidence that consumers are price-weary and fed up with all the subscriptions being foisted on them by everyone from streaming channels to car manufacturers. BMW famously tried to charge monthly fees in 2022 for steering wheels ($10/month) and heated seats ($18/month) – hardly high-end convenience options. After a significant consumer backlash, BMW was forced to abandon that particular plan, but it has not deterred them or other major brands from rolling out other subscription models. Auto manufacturers believe consumers will be forced to accept them as part of the cost of ownership, keeping the money rolling in for years after the vehicle sale.

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