UPS expects 6% rise in holiday shipments

UPS expects package deliveries the week before Christmas to rise 6 percent compared with 2010, as more shoppers wait until the last minute to buy gifts online.

That's a total of 120 million packages around the world during the company's "peak week" compared with 113 million last year.

The Atlanta company predicts its busiest day will be Dec. 22, when it expects to deliver 26 million parcels.

United Parcel Service Inc. also predicts it will see five days where its deliveries will meet or exceed 25 million.

UPS' smaller rival, FedEx Corp., expects to handle 17 million packages on its busiest day, which this year is projected to fall on Dec. 12. That's 10 percent more than its busiest day last year.