A UPS outage is not something you can fix, but how you respond in the first 15 minutes decides how much it costs you. This guide covers confirming the outage, limiting the damage, and keeping customers informed.
How do I confirm UPS is actually down?
Check two independent sources before changing anything in your store. First, StatusBird's live UPS status page, which is based on independent checks every 2 minutes. Second, UPS's own status page at wwwapps.ups.com/. If the official page still shows green, do not assume you are wrong: vendors often acknowledge incidents well after they start. If both look clean, the problem is more likely your store's configuration or a specific integration.
What does a UPS outage look like?
- UPS shipping options missing or erroring at checkout
- Label creation failing in your shipping software with UPS API errors
- Tracking numbers showing no movement or the tracking page not loading
- ups.com or the UPS developer APIs unreachable
- Spike in customer emails asking where their package is
What breaks in your store
A UPS systems outage hits stores in two places. At checkout, live UPS rate lookups can fail, which depending on your setup either hides UPS options, shows fallback flat rates, or in the worst case blocks customers from completing checkout. In fulfillment, label purchasing through the UPS API fails, so orders pile up unshipped, and tracking pages stop updating, which drives a wave of where-is-my-order support tickets. Physical package movement is separate from the website and APIs, so parcels already in the network usually keep moving even when tracking looks frozen.
For context, UPS has had no major incidents in the last 90 days of StatusBird's independent monitoring (100.0% availability), so a real outage is unusual. That makes it easy to mistake one for a problem on your end, which is why confirming first matters.
What to do during the outage
- Enable a backup carrier such as USPS or FedEx for label creation on urgent orders.
- Switch checkout to flat-rate or table-rate shipping so customers can still complete purchases.
- Batch unshipped UPS orders and process labels as soon as the API recovers.
- Tell customers proactively that tracking updates are delayed but packages are still moving.
- Print labels through the UPS website or a local worksheet if only the API is down and the site works.
Frequently asked questions
Are my packages actually stuck when UPS tracking stops updating?
Usually not. Tracking visibility runs on UPS's IT systems, which can fail independently of trucks and sorting facilities. Packages generally keep moving during a tracking outage, and scan history backfills once systems recover.
Can customers still check out if UPS rates fail?
That depends on your configuration. If UPS is your only live-rate option and there is no fallback, checkout can show no shipping methods and block purchases. Set up a backup flat rate or a second carrier now so a rate API failure never stops orders.
After the outage
Once UPS recovers, verify the affected workflows end to end rather than trusting the status page. Note the start and end times while they are fresh: if you are on a paid UPS plan with an SLA, documented downtime is what a service credit claim is built on. See how to claim SLA credits for the process.
How this data is measured
StatusBird checks UPS's status every 2 minutes, around the clock, independently of the vendor. The availability figure counts major and critical outages only; minor degradation is excluded so numbers are not skewed by vendors that report small blips near-continuously. Grades run from A+ to F. See the live numbers on the UPS reliability page and current status on the UPS status page, or browse all 84 service grades.
Know before your customers do
StatusBird monitors UPS and 83 other services online stores depend on, plus your own storefront, every 2 minutes. When something goes down you get an SMS, email, or Slack alert with plain-English context, usually before the official status page catches up. Start monitoring free, no card required for the free plan.