By Laura Stevens And Paul Page 

Pope Francis' six-day visit to the U.S. that begins on Tuesday ushers in a week of unprecedented logistical challenges for delivery companies, railroads, the U.S. Postal Service and many shippers as cities ramp up their security and close down roadways.

In many of the areas he will visit in New York, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, e-commerce deliveries will come to a standstill.

Apple Inc.'s brand new iPhones are scheduled to hit doorsteps on Friday, at a time when major service disruptions in New York and Philadelphia are expected. The new phones will go on sale as scheduled that day in retail stores. But the last stage of home delivery is largely out of Apple's control. Apple said it is aware of the problem.

United Parcel Service Inc. told its customers that it will suspend pickups and deliveries in parts of the three cities--impacting a total of 28 ZIP Codes--during the pontiff's visit because of the cities' stringent security measures. FedEx Corp. said it won't cancel service, but warned customers of service delays and disruptions in a wider area totaling 1,210 ZIP Codes.

The U.S. Postal Service also warned of suspended deliveries in parts of Philadelphia and other delays, and said it would remove mailboxes along Pope Francis' travel route "in the interest of safety and security."

Last week, New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton said that the pontiff's visit, combined with a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly and other events, presents New York with the largest security challenge it has ever faced.

The papal visit will also have a big impact on e-commerce. An estimated 404,000 packages, or 1.3% of total U.S. volume, are at risk of delay in the affected areas, according to tracking-software developer ShipMatrix Inc.

It's rare for delivery companies to issue such warnings, but "this is apparently one of the highest security events in decades that this country is undertaking," said Satish Jindel, ShipMatrix's president. "They won't be able to deliver in some areas."

Typically, U.S. transportation companies suspend deliveries or warn about service delays in the event of bad weather or other natural disasters. Local authorities have taken similar security measures for the 2009 G-20 summit in Pittsburgh and presidential inaugurations.

But rarely do such restrictive security measures hit three major East Coast cities the same week. Pope Francis arrives in Washington on Tuesday afternoon, travels to New York on Thursday afternoon and heads to Philadelphia on Saturday.

The pontiff's visit to Washington has also led the U.S. government to change its procedure for releasing economic data. The government will release several economic reports, including the Labor Department's weekly jobless-claims report, on agency websites. For these reports, the government typically shares the data with media organizations under embargo shortly before the public release. The closed sessions for Thursday were canceled.

"It's pretty staggering," said David Vernon, a transportation analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., who said there isn't much precedent for an event of this scale in New York. "You've got huge sections of the city that are blocked off."

It will be one of the biggest disruptions to regional delivery company Eastern Connection since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and certainly bigger than when the president comes through town or other dignitaries visit, said Chief Executive Jim Berluti.

The company has warned customers, including Avon Products Inc., MWI Veterinary Supply Inc. and retailer City Sports, that it may be unable to deliver in some areas. As a result, some customers are postponing shipments, and the company plans to schedule extra deliveries for the weekend in Manhattan.

Railroad Norfolk Southern Corp. alerted customers that it expected some service interruptions during what it called a "very special, significant lifetime event." Norfolk Southern said it would be subject to train movement restrictions. Road and bridge closures may also impact the ability to move trains and get crew to where they need to be, the railroad said. CSX Corp. said it would be closing two facilities that move loads between railcars and trucks for the weekend in Philadelphia.

Beer distributors in Washington and Pennsylvania were rescheduling deliveries and at least one was shutting down for Pope Francis' visit. Coca-Cola Co. said it adjusted deliveries for customers in areas where streets were closed, in some cases dropping off beverages in advance. CVS Health Corp. identified 32 New York stores with deliveries in the path of the papal visit and is moving up the trucks' drop-offs by a day or two, a spokesman said.

Comcast Corp. notified customers that it won't be doing in-home installations from Friday through Monday in Philadelphia. However, it will have 24-hour maintenance coverage, and it will send technicians out on bicycles in areas that aren't accessible by vehicle, a spokesman said.

Trucking companies were also planning to avoid traffic jams, delaying deliveries in some instances.

New England Motor Freight, one of the largest trucking operators in the Northeast, will avoid Manhattan, central Philadelphia and downtown Washington during the peak of Pope Francis' visit.

Thomas Connery, president of the Elizabeth, N.J.-based carrier, said the company normally has up to 30 trucks a day in Manhattan and 15 to 20 in Philadelphia but now expects to make only a handful of very early-morning deliveries on Friday, before the roads get particularly crowded and traffic more unpredictable.

"We want to get our drivers in early and then get them out of there," Mr. Connery said. "You're going to waste your drivers' time if you're going to have them sit on the George Washington Bridge for the better part of the day trying to make deliveries."

Some customers are moving their deliveries. While other events--such as the 2014 Super Bowl in New Jersey--have caused network adjustments, they are typically limited to one area of a city.

"You look at the schedule," Mr. Connery said, "and this pope is going to be all over Manhattan."

Brian R. Fitzgerald contributed to this article.

Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com and Paul Page at paul.page@wsj.com

 

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2015 20:13 ET (00:13 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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