Peak logistics periods to prepare for in 2024

From Chinese New Year to Christmas, understanding and effectively managing peak periods in logistics is essential to maintaining the flow of goods and keeping your customers happy.

Chinese New Year is an annual holiday celebrated in various forms throughout Asia, causing the largest annual mass migration of people in the world! Beginning February 10, 2024, nearly all factories in the region will be closed for more than a week, and full production will not be restored for nearly a month. It's arguably the biggest holiday in the logistics calendar, and ahead of the New Year we see container volumes increase by 50 percent as people prepare their cargo. It's also leading to a busy start to the year as logistics companies, carriers and shippers deal with this demand and subsequent delays once normal operations resume.

Carnival is the festive season that occurs before Lent and includes public celebrations, parades and street parties. Although the carnival is held in many countries around the world, the largest and most famous carnival is in Brazil, where, as with Chinese New Year, much of the country stops for a week of celebrations. In 2024, the Rio de Janeiro Carnival will take place from February 9 to 17.

Depending on where you’re shipping your cargo from or to, you may be impacted by the summer season as workers go on vacation. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, the summer months are July and August, while in the southern hemisphere the summer holidays are in December and January. The summer holiday season also sees increased demand for certain goods and products - from food to patio furniture - so if you're shipping something seasonal, it's always a good idea to start planning ahead so you can get your shipment when you need it most.

Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday are important dates in the consumer calendar when brick-and-mortar stores and online retailers offer big discounts to shoppers. In 2024, Black Friday falls on November 29 and Cyber ​​Monday falls on December 2 — after Thanksgiving in the United States. What started in the US has now spread across the world from the UK to Mexico as other countries hope to get a piece of the huge amounts of money that will be spent during these two days. US online shoppers alone spent $9.12 billion during Black Friday 2022! To meet this huge demand, many companies are preparing their cargo as early as September.