This is a potentially disruptive situation that will likely affect most campus departments and purchasers. UC Systemwide Procurement is working closely with Campus Procurement and Supply Chain staff on proactive strategies to maintain continuous operations during this challenge and avoid the disruption, delay or loss of critical goods. Please follow the recommendations outlined below for best outcomes in this situation.
As of July 17, to avoid delivery problems with critical inbound goods, any orders/purchases should be routed through alternate delivery services like FedEx, USPS, DHL, etc. (Usually, suppliers determine shipping options but if there is a choice, please avoid UPS. If UPS is the only option, we advise you to find a different supplier or delay the purchase.)
As of July 17, to avoid shipping problems with outbound critical goods, campuses should set up accounts with and use these alternate UC-contracted shipping services:
- FedEx – contact Elaine.Heath@fedex.com to set up account
- GLS (formerly Golden State Overnight) - complete this interest form (reference UC contract #2020002351)
- Other campus-specific local shipping services.
Please note if there is a strike, all suppliers and purchasing outlets will be transitioning to alternate carriers, so we expect delays will occur with them as well. In this case, staff should only buy critical items to avoid overtaxing these delivery services.
Systemwide Procurement is identifying systemwide suppliers without UPS exposure or with adequate mitigation plans in place to greenlight them for continued use throughout the strike. Suppliers with dependency on UPS will be flagged for potential risk.
Supplier risk statuses will be continually updated and posted in our UPS Strike Mitigation Box folder which also contains general information, resources and real-time strike development updates.
Thank you for taking these actions to mitigate this threat. Working together and following these recommendations, we hope to maintain near-optimal operations during this uncertain time.