The Postal Service is prepared and equipped for Dec. 12 — the start of what is expected to be the busiest week of the year for the organization.
USPS has been gearing up for this year’s holiday peak season since January.
Preparations included converting 100,000 workers to full time, beginning in 2021, with more than 41,000 part-time workers becoming full time this year.
In October, the Postal Service began a national drive to hire an additional 20,000 seasonal employees.
This year, an extra 10.5 million square feet of space was added to process packages, and 23 temporary peak annexes opened. USPS also installed 137 new package sorting machines to bring the organization’s total to 249 since the launch of the Delivering for America plan in March 2021.
The new equipment, combined with the increased operational and network improvements, will expand the organization’s package processing capacity to 60 million packages a day.
USPS is reminding customers that its busiest week is also the last week to get their holiday gifts and greetings in the mail by the recommended deadlines.
Customers are also advised when sending gifts that certain items may have restrictions or prohibitions when sent through the mail. They should consult the list of hazardous, restricted and perishable mail.
Because traffic at all Post Offices has been increasing since Dec. 5, USPS is encouraging customers to use usps.com for at-home shipping and online services such as Click-N-Ship to order free Priority Mail boxes, print shipping labels, purchase postage and request free Package Pickup.
Customers can also visit the USPS Holiday Newsroom website for domestic, international, military mailing and shipping deadlines. There is also a helpful collection of holiday “how to” shipping tips videos on YouTube.
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