USPS hired nearly 30,000 workers this season to handle high volumes of mails and packages, these are the delivery deadlines
During the Christmas period, mail carriers and delivery services experience a higher volume of mail and packages due to the increased sending of holiday cards and gifts. This can cause delays in the delivery of mail and packages, something that Americans are experiencing almost every single year. The higher volume of mail and packages is only part of the potential delays. Severe weather conditions, such as storms and heavy snowfalls, might even further impact the delivery time, resulting in thousands of packages taking longer to arrive at their final destination.
In an effort to avoid delays, many companies hire thousands of workers for the holidays to process high volumes of orders and deliveries. This has been a practice for decades, but the COVID-19 pandemic made the problem even worse because a growing number of people were sending more mail than usual while online purchases have skyrocketed.
Hiring more people for the holidays is only part of the long-term solution. Companies, however, also invest millions of dollars every year in technology with the aim of improving deliveries and mail handling. USPS, for example, unveiled their “Delivering for America” initiative in 2020, according to which the postal service invested millions in package sorting machines to increase their capacities and rely more on automation than manual work.
Since we approach Christmas and USPS already experiences higher volumes of mail and packages, the postal service reminds customers about the deadlines if they want their mail to be delivered in time for Christmas:
- USPS RETAIL GROUND – Dec. 17
- FIRST CLASS MAIL – Dec. 19
- PRIORITY MAIL – Dec. 21
- PRIORITY MAIL EXPRESS – Dec. 23
The United States Postal Service acknowledged the need for more staffing and automation early in the pandemic, and that helped them a lot to make much-needed changes upfront. In recent years, the postal service converted 100,000 part-time employees to full-time employees and invested a lot in technology. This year, USPS hired nearly 30,000 seasonal workers to additionally help the company handle all the packages during the busiest time of the year.
According to USPS spokesperson Philip Bogenberger, everyone is advised to send their mail as soon as possible to avoid additional costs. Although there are higher fees for those who are about to wait longer, the USPS is committed to delivering all the mail processed by December 23.
Since adding 137 sorting machines in 2020, the postal service’s capacity has increased to 60 million packages per day across the entire network nationwide because machines can sort packages much faster than manual sorting.
“We’re working just as hard as ever, we are just working smarter and faster than we have before,” said Bogenberger.
For more information on USPS holiday shipping guidelines, click here.
