With more people engaged in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the already busy and hectic online shopping and mailing season triggered by the holiday season is apparently – and understandably – even more so this year.
Especially this week.
The US Postal Service advised customers on Monday that, amid a “historic record of mail and parcel volume,” they should get their shipments to the nearest letterbox or post office as quickly as possible. The service says that this week, through December 21, is expected to be the busiest for the system.
“We thank our customers for their continued support and we are committed to ensuring that gifts and cards are delivered on time to celebrate the holiday season,” Kristin Seaver, the postal service’s chief retail and delivery, said in a statement.
The USPS says it has seen “temporary delays” in deliveries for a variety of reasons caused by this year’s unusual conditions.
The latest COVID-19 surge has left the mail with a staffing shortage, and capacity problems in planes and trucks due to the number of letters and parcels pose even more challenges, officials say.
In addition, UPS and FedEx have reportedly discontinued delivery service for certain retailers, which has also contributed to the build-up of packages handled by the USPS, according to The Washington Post.
“We will continue to expand our network and ensure that the right equipment is available to sort, process and deliver a historic number of mail and packages this holiday season,” said Seaver.
The added tax has meant that the USPS has “enhanced” parcel tracking with expanded technology, and hires seasonal workers “when and where needed,” according to a press release. Sunday delivery service began last month in select areas with high delivery volumes, though the USPS was already delivering packages to most major cities on that day, officials said.
In certain places mail deliverers deliver on Christmas Day for an additional fee.
The postal service also extended shopping hours and parcel delivery window in some locations, along with the launch of new equipment to streamline operations and additional vehicles to speed delivery, officials said.
At UPS, the shipping and delivery company said last week that the network was running “smoothly” for the first two weeks of December.
“UPS is running one of the most successful peak season shipping seasons ever,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said in a statement.
UPS has hired approximately 100,000 seasonal workers to help with the crowds, along with 39,000 permanent new employees hired by the company between April and June.
The company has also built 20 new facilities and deployed 14 additional aircraft for the peak of the holiday season, in addition to the approximately 500 leased and owned aircraft in UPS’s global fleet, according to a press release. Weekend activities were also expanded, with both pick-up and delivery for both commercial and private companies on Saturdays.
Local and state officials have urged residents to only celebrate the holiday with those within their household, as COVID-19 transmission has picked up again in recent weeks – and it seems many in Massachusetts plan to do so.
A recent Suffolk University and Boston Globe A poll of 500 Bay State residents found that 61.4 percent said they plan to spend the holidays in December, compared with 28.2 percent who said they plan to record the festivities with people living elsewhere. live, and 8 percent said they will be alone.
In terms of postal traffic, 76 percent of respondents confirmed that they primarily shop online for their gifts. Only 15 percent said they will rely mainly on brick-and-mortar stores to provide some fun.
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