The United States Postal Service (USPS) reported delivering more than 13.2 billion mail pieces and packages over the holiday season with an average delivery time of “less than three days.”
USPS saw an increase in preliminary performance metrics for the 2021 holiday season compared to the same timeframe in 2020.
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Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, it took on average 2.7 days to deliver a mailpiece or package across the USPS network. During that time, they accepted more than 13.2 billion letters, cards, flats and packages for delivery.
In 2020 they accepted 12.7 billion.
“Our mission to deliver for America is an enormous responsibility, especially during the holidays,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “I am humbled by the hard work and dedication of each and every one of our 650,000 employees who, despite the challenges of the pandemic, helped bring joy and commerce to people across the nation.”
USPS says preparation for the 2021 peak holiday season began at the start of last year.
The Postal Service’s peak season preparations included:
• Stabilizing the Workforce and Preparing for Pandemic-related Challenges: The conversion of 63,000 pre-career employees into career positions and the onboarding of more than 185,000 employees since the beginning of last fiscal year, including the backfilling of the 63,000 pre-career employees and the national drive to hire an additional 40,000 seasonal employees.
• Expanded Facility Footprint to Resolve Bottlenecks and Improve the Flow of Mail and Packages: The leasing of 13 million square feet of additional space across more than 100 locations to accommodate mail and packages, including over 50 annexes with multiyear leases to address year-round space constraints due to parcel growth.
• New Package Sorting Equipment to Expedite Handling and Sortation of Increased Package Volumes: The installation of 112 new package sorting machines and more than 50 package systems capable of sorting large packages. As a result of an organization-wide focus on improving operations and strategic investments, the Postal Service boosted daily processing capacity by 13 million packages. Package sortation capacity enables efficient movement of mail over the integrated USPS delivery network as mail and packages travel together. These machines also reduce the physical toll on our workforce.
• Diversified, Reliable Transportation Options: The leasing of nearly 3,300 trailers just for peak season and the diversification of volume traveling across the air network among additional air carriers. The Postal Service also expanded the surface transfer center network by adding 1.6 million additional square feet and over 300 dock doors to, among other things, increase long-haul transportation utilization and mitigate driver shortage issues.
The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.