I originally remembered about a thousand units. Then the photographs started coming back.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2020 were closer to 3,800 units. During COVID, normal fulfillment infrastructure broke in several directions at once. The New Jersey operation was disrupted. Our local warehouse became inaccessible during a probate mess. Customers had already paid.
So we made another machine.
We rented an enormous U-Haul. We ran New York to New Jersey and back. Then again. Then again. We hand-loaded freight. At home, labels kept printing. Product moved through whatever space existed. Carrier handoffs became improvised. People slept when they absolutely had to.
The photographs after Peak matter just as much: vehicles full of outbound boxes weren't only a one-week emergency. Daily shipping remained physically enormous.
The operating rule was simple: every paid order was a promise. The process could become ugly. The promise still had to move.