What can Brown do for you? Deliver your packages on time

UPS, the U.S. logistics giant, is gearing up for a big day today: December 22 marks the busiest day of deliveries for the company every year.

United Parcel Service Inc. has hired nearly 37,500 temporary employees this holiday season as it handles the onslaught of packages that come during the busiest delivery time of the year. "Jumpers," as UPS calls them, help full-time drivers deliver packages, riding shotgun in the company's trucks. The added muscle power is necessary, especially today when the company will deliver millions of packages to businesses and homes across the globe.

Today alone, UPS will deliver 24 million packages, a 60 percent increase from its normal daily delivery numbers. UPS pays its jumpers a fair wage - around $10 an hour - but the work is not easy: some of the hazards of the job are heavy packages and chatty homeowners who can slow down the pace. The risks to supply chain efficiency are great and varied, UPS employees assert, as even a toy that turns on while still boxed up can slow down the delivery process.

This coming Friday, Christmas Eve, will be the last day for the jumpers. In an annual ritual, the temporary employees will hand in their uniforms...until next year.