A condensed holiday calendar and a solid start to Christmas shopping means the U.S. Postal Service will have to hustle this year, but officials said Monday that improved technology and extra service hours will help them deliver seasons greetings and gifts on time.
The Postal Service estimates it will deliver about 20 billion letters, packages and other mailed items between Thanksgiving and Christmas, said Pat Donahoe, the Postal Service's chief operating officer.
The peak mailing day is expected to be Monday, Dec. 16, when about 850 million items will be postmarked -- about 185 million more than average. The busiest delivery day should be two days later.
Donahoe said last weekend's solid start of Christmas shopping bodes well for the Postal Service, along with optimistic projections for catalogue and other mail-order shipments.
"We expect to meet and exceed expectations," Donahoe said.
The traditional holiday shopping window shrunk by six days this year because Thanksgiving fell later than usual on the calendar.
Postal workers, however, are prepared to handle the crunch by extending its hours, including opening for business on Sundays, Donahoe said.
It also plans to use 44 additional cargo airplanes from its "holiday network hub" in Indianapolis next week and buy more space on FedEx flights.
The Postal Service plans to keep its temporary help to a minimum because of better address-reading machines and other new equipment.
"Our investments in technology paid off substantially," Donahoe said. "We will not be adding a lot of help."
The best assurance for timely delivery, according to the Postal Service, is to mail holiday letters and packages early.
The same advice came from UPS, which expects to add about 60,000 holiday workers to its U.S. staff of 320,000. Most of the seasonal help will be employed as package sorters and assistants to truck drivers who typically double their delivery loads during the holiday, said Vanessa Smith, a UPS spokeswoman.
The parcel company said it delivers an average of 13.6 million packages a day. On Dec. 19, its anticipated peak delivery day, drivers are expected to drop off more than 18 million packages.
To accommodate the heavy volume, UPS plans to add more trucks to its fleet of 88,000 familiar brown vehicles and increase its 900 daily flights to up to 13,000, Smith said.
FedEx, which handles about 3 million packages through its overnight delivery service, expects to get more than 5 million on Dec. 19.
The company's ground delivery service peaked last week as it delivered more than 2.5 million packages to toy stores, discount chain stores and other large volume businesses on Nov. 27 -- just before the commencement of Thanksgiving weekend.
For last-minute shoppers who want a timely delivery, the Postal Service recommends Express Mail. And for the ultimate procrastinator, UPS offers SonicAir, a premium same-day-pick-up-and-delivery service with rates that start at $169 for packages under 25 pounds.
Some holiday mailing tips:
Use the correct ZIP code. Find out missing ones on the Postal Service Web site: http://www.usps.com.
Remove batteries from toys and wrap them separately.
Always use a return address.
Use strong, reinforced tape. Do not use string.
Place a return address label inside the package.
On the Net:
U.S. Postal Service: http://www.usps.com
UPS: http://www.ups.com
FedEx: http://www.fedex.com
The Postal Service estimates it will deliver about 20 billion letters, packages and other mailed items between Thanksgiving and Christmas, said Pat Donahoe, the Postal Service's chief operating officer.
The peak mailing day is expected to be Monday, Dec. 16, when about 850 million items will be postmarked -- about 185 million more than average. The busiest delivery day should be two days later.
Donahoe said last weekend's solid start of Christmas shopping bodes well for the Postal Service, along with optimistic projections for catalogue and other mail-order shipments.
"We expect to meet and exceed expectations," Donahoe said.
The traditional holiday shopping window shrunk by six days this year because Thanksgiving fell later than usual on the calendar.
Postal workers, however, are prepared to handle the crunch by extending its hours, including opening for business on Sundays, Donahoe said.
It also plans to use 44 additional cargo airplanes from its "holiday network hub" in Indianapolis next week and buy more space on FedEx flights.
The Postal Service plans to keep its temporary help to a minimum because of better address-reading machines and other new equipment.
"Our investments in technology paid off substantially," Donahoe said. "We will not be adding a lot of help."
The best assurance for timely delivery, according to the Postal Service, is to mail holiday letters and packages early.
The same advice came from UPS, which expects to add about 60,000 holiday workers to its U.S. staff of 320,000. Most of the seasonal help will be employed as package sorters and assistants to truck drivers who typically double their delivery loads during the holiday, said Vanessa Smith, a UPS spokeswoman.
The parcel company said it delivers an average of 13.6 million packages a day. On Dec. 19, its anticipated peak delivery day, drivers are expected to drop off more than 18 million packages.
To accommodate the heavy volume, UPS plans to add more trucks to its fleet of 88,000 familiar brown vehicles and increase its 900 daily flights to up to 13,000, Smith said.
FedEx, which handles about 3 million packages through its overnight delivery service, expects to get more than 5 million on Dec. 19.
The company's ground delivery service peaked last week as it delivered more than 2.5 million packages to toy stores, discount chain stores and other large volume businesses on Nov. 27 -- just before the commencement of Thanksgiving weekend.
For last-minute shoppers who want a timely delivery, the Postal Service recommends Express Mail. And for the ultimate procrastinator, UPS offers SonicAir, a premium same-day-pick-up-and-delivery service with rates that start at $169 for packages under 25 pounds.
Some holiday mailing tips:
On the Net:
U.S. Postal Service: http://www.usps.com
UPS: http://www.ups.com
FedEx: http://www.fedex.com