As online shopping grows, delivery services increasingly look to rental trucks

If a delivery driver for FedEx, the U.S. Postal Service or UPS pulls up in front of your home in a U-Haul, Budget, Penske or another rental truck, there's likely no need to call the police.

As online shopping has grown exponentially in recent years, the number of packages requiring delivery during the holiday season has soared.

'Using rental vehicles is a cost-effective way of temporarily expanding our delivery fleet to address the increased package volume around the holidays,” UPS spokeswoman Kim Krebs said. 'We have been renting trucks for holiday deliveries for many years.”

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, UPS expects to deliver about 630 million packages, an increase of 10 percent from last year, across the nation. The company hired up to 95,000 extra workers this season to help manage the holiday crush in addition to renting trucks.

FedEx spokesman Tim Miller said businesses contracted to handle package delivery and pickup for the company need to supplement their own regular fleet of trucks and drivers to handle the increased demand. He said customers may see a different truck, but drivers will conform to the company's policies.

'Everyone making deliveries on behalf of FedEx Ground is expected to wear a photo ID badge,” Miller said.

Krebs said UPS drivers wear the company's familiar brown uniform and have photo ID. They also carry an electronic clipboard that they use to record delivery information.

The Postal Service has rented trucks for a number of years to supplement its fleet of aging vans. But volume has grown after it contracted to help handle last-mile delivery for FedEx and UPS.

In some parts of the country, residents have called the police after seeing FedEx or UPS delivery workers in U-Haul trucks. The concerns arose after the resurfacing of an old Internet hoax, which claims that terrorists have bought uniforms to impersonate delivery workers.

Those reports have been debunked, with the FBI investigating the rumors and finding they are not valid, according to www.Snopes.com, an urban legend website.