Did companies like Amazon and the other internet retailers that were sending emails, "free overnite shipping" really care if you got the item on time?
They had your money, you got to kick back in your easy chair, have a cocktail and avoid the crowds, parking, etc. at the malls. You were sure you had that last minute X-box game for little Billy.
And if little Billy's present wasn't there Amazon, et al could blame UPS or FedEx.
Bezos doesn't care, he's gonna build another gigantic distribution center stocked with barely above minimum wage workers and/or robots and put a few more brick and mortar stores out of business.
The Postal Service back when it was called the "Postal Service" used to issue mailing guidelines before Christmas. Now our instant gratification, gotta have it yesterday society rushes out for "free overnite shipping".
Somethings gotta give!
What's UPS supposed to do, have a mothball fleet of package cars, feeder tractors and trailers that sit for 11 months?
That takes a large capital investment, say they do it before 2014, it works then, they repeat for 2015, then the economy goes in the red again. All that capital tied up, and no return on investment.
Maybe someone should have spoken up to Amazon, et al and said there may be service failures.
(Maybe they did around the conference table and they all agreed "Who Cares, We'll have their money.")