‘Slammed’: Overwhelmed postal service means a late Christmas for many
Updated Dec 21, 2020;
Posted Dec 21, 2020
FILE - In this May 6, 2020, photo, United States Postal Service carrier Henrietta Dixon gets into her truck to deliver mail in Philadelphia. Officials from six states and the District of Columbia are in court Thursday, Sept. 24, to ask a federal judge to halt alleged slowdowns at the U.S. Postal Service that they say threaten the upcoming presidential election(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)AP
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It’s threatening Christmas now, too.
“We’re slammed,” said one frustrated postal worker at the U.S. Postal Service’s processing center in Susquehanna Township. “There’s just no winning this year.”
Snow, road closures leads to postal delays
Some Schenectady roads impassable for Postal Service
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Blocked or impassable roads kept some letter carriers from their rounds on Thursday.Times Union file photo
Albany
Amid sporadic delays and office closures, postal officials say if you haven’t sent your greeting cards and packages already they are not like to arrive by Christmas, unless you send it by Priority or Express mail.
Mail delivery on Thursday was delayed in some spots due to impassable roads, especially in Schenectady and other locations, said spokeswoman Maureen Marion.
The Postal Service’s Albany District runs from the Berkshires to the Adirondack High Peaks to the Southern Tier over through the Finger Lakes.
Dive Brief:
The United States Postal Service is experiencing a historic surge in mail and packages this holiday season, the agency said on Monday.
An employee shortage due to the COVID-19 surge and capacity issues with airlifts and trucking are causing the temporary delays, the agency said in a press release.
To cope with the mail surge, the USPS has extended its holiday retail hours in select locations, expanded operational capacity with new equipment, leased extra vehicles and extended its package delivery window.
Dive Insight:
The COVID-19 pandemic and early holiday sales from retailers seem to have accelerated a jump in e-commerce shopping. Research from Deloitte s InsightIQ found that retailers online sales in October catalyzed a 50% year-over-year spike in online sales, kicking off an extended holiday shopping season. That online spending increase continued for Cyber Monday and Black Friday, research from Adobe indicated.
Holiday Shipping “Gridlock” is Delaying 6 Million Packages Per Day
We re at less than 10 days until Christmas, and many people have yet to see the arrival of gifts they ordered well before the window for delivery in time.
I got this message from a friend who ships a lot of stuff on a weekly basis (It’s an online store for LEDs and electrical components). This was on Friday 12/11 for his last pick up. He lives in Florida and was listening on the app to post office story.
Just a heads up for holiday shipping. I mailed a bunch of packages yesterday that I knew were Christmas presents. My Mail dude (been friends for 5+ years) told me in his 20 years as a carrier he has never seen so many packages backed-up in the system and in jeopardy of being delivered after the holidays. He said there are physically WAY more packages in the system than there are bodies who can deliver them. Temps are being employed to deliver so keep a close eye on your tracking to make sure they are not mis-
Will your package reach its destination in time for Christmas? That’s up in the air
The United States Postal Service experiencing nationwide temporary delays; recommends sending packages early
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Christmas is just over a week away, and with the coronavirus pandemic, the United States Postal Service is getting extremely high volumes of packages. The question is, will they reach their destinations in time for the holiday? The answer to that could be up in the air.
According to the Postal Service, the week from Dec. 14 through Dec. 21 is the busiest peak time for shipping and delivering packages. A time-lapse at the post office’s Spring Park location offers a sense of the foot traffic moving at a fast pace. All of this means a heavy load for the postal service. That’s why Gabe Turner isn’t planning to mail any packages for the holidays.