Post offices expect to deliver billions of mail during holidays
Dropped off, tracked and prepped for delivery.
It’s tradition for many postal carriers across the country this time of year.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) estimates a total of 16 billion packages and mail will be delivered between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve. With a 12 percent spike in package deliveries expected this holiday season, Palm Desert Postmaster Bret Watkins said he and his crew have spent months preparing to make deliveries special.
“It’s a 24/7 operation,” Watkins said. “Parcels come in, and they go back out continuously. We have clerks that work at night, as well as early in the morning shift to get it out.”
Watkins said carriers at the Palm Desert Post Office plan on spending the week before the holidays delivering an average of 10,000 to 12,000 packages a day, hoping all show up right on time.
“The Post Office has just been very good,” Palm Desert resident Tina Bates said. “I think they’re very careful.”
Wednesday marked the deadline to send packages through Priority mail with a delivery date guaranteed by Christmas.
The deadline for Express mail is Friday, December 23.
Watkins said an easy way to track your package, whether you sent one or expecting one this holiday season, is through the USPS mobile app. Customers can put in their tracking number, and check every move right to the destination.
