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December 13, 2000 10:10 AM, EST

Because of forecasted increases in online shopping this holiday season, it is likely that retailers will have just as much difficulty getting goodies to children on time as they did last year.

Barry Butzow, senior vice president with freight broker C.H. Robinson Worldwide (), said companies that sell things to consumers online learned from last year. The infrastructure and computer systems, however, are not in place to handle the volume —almost double the number of packages moved last year — online retailers expect to try to send this year.

That will change next year when online retailers get another year under their belts and are able to build distribution networks to ship goods throughout the country on short notice, Butzow said.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission is hoping online retailers will not disappoint customers by making delivery promises they cannot keep. Late in November, FTC warned nearly 100 firms selling consumer goods over the Internet that they will be punished if they mislead buyers about when they will get their orders.

For the full story, see the Dec. 11 print edition of Transport Topics. .