SALT LAKE CITY — The United States Postal Service has hired tens of thousands of employees and is beefing up operations for the holiday season to keep up with the hundreds of millions of packages it expects to ship in the coming weeks.
Last year during the holiday season, USPS said it shipped more than 1 billion packages nationwide.
"We brought on board 112 package sorting machines, we opened up 40 package annexes, and we hired 40,000 holiday employees," explained David James, the manager of USPS customer relations for Nevada and Utah.
He also recommended customers ship presents before December 13, and avoid shipping during the busiest week of the season.
He said they expect their busiest week will hit December 13 to 18, where they expect to deliver approximately 200 million packages or more.
As they rush to process packages and make a mad dash on deliveries, James gave a pro tip for customers to avoid the post office altogether through Click-N-Ship.
He said USPS will send you priority boxes for free so that you can mail packages from your home. You just need a printer and computer to get the label on.
"You generate a package pickup, and your normal mail carrier who delivers your mail will pick up your packages that same day," he said.
James stressed that people should not wrap any boxes in wrapping paper, even if the address is clearly labeled. He suggested placing a card with the address inside the box just in case the label on the outside is damaged.
"I can't stress enough," James urged. "This is not the time to procrastinate. Get your packages in the mail stream, early as possible."
