East Coast logistics firms resume limited service, as blizzard turns to extreme cold

FedEx Ground trucks were plying the pre-dawn streets through snow-covered Boston this morning, after driving snow and winds caused widespread disruption of regional logistics services. By mid-morning, flights at nearby airports, such as Boston Logan (BOS) and New York’s John F. Kennedy (JFK), were slowly returning to normal, but with plenty of cancellations and delays still in effect.

With most of the extreme weather in the past, connectivity is quickly improving at major regional airports, where FedEx aircraft were back in service. FedEx said that some service delays and disruptions were still anticipated today for inbound and outbound shipments across most of the Northeastern states hardest hit by the storm.

Jim Mayer, public relations manager for UPS Airlines told Air Cargo World that, “along with millions of our customers, UPS operations have been affected by the significant snowstorm on the Eastern seaboard.”

Mayer said that UPS had suspended operations in areas where roads remain impassable, or in airports that are closed. “The only thing more important at UPS than service is safety, and we will resume operations in affected areas as soon as it’s safe to do so,” he said, noting that that UPS’s service guarantees are “suspended due to weather conditions beyond our control.”

The storm dumped more than a foot of snow across much of the Northeast, and forecasters are calling for a record-breaking cold spell in the days ahead, which could slow the process of digging out in some areas. Temperatures in Boston and other parts of New England are not expected to climb out of the single digits, Fahrenheit, this weekend.

Looking further ahead, weather reports for the East Coast don’t call for more snowfall. While that would normally create plenty of time and space for local governments and businesses to dig out and resume services, extreme cold could complicate matters.

“When it’s this cold, the [road] salt doesn’t have much effect,” New York City mayor Bill de Blasio warned during a press conference yesterday.