The U.S. Postal Service said it expects to deliver about 600 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, an increase of 10.5% over 2014. The agency plans to hire 30,000 employees for the 2015 holiday season to meet the increased demand.
By comparison, UPS is calling for a similar increase – 10% – while FedEx is projecting a 12.4% holiday bump.
The USPS is also launching real-time delivery notifications for customers who sign up for alerts at www.myusps.com, with the alerts going out within a few minutes of the delivery scan for select packages. The service is part of a mobile rollout that was completed in October, with alerts generated based on handheld package scans by carriers.
As it did last year, the USPS will again deliver packages seven days a week in select major cities and high-volume areas beginning Nov. 29, for the four Sundays before Christmas. It expects to deliver on average about 5 million packages every Sunday during December.
The USPS predicts that Monday, Dec. 14, will be the busiest mailing and shipping day for holiday packages, letters and cards. It will also be the busiest day online with more than 7 million customers expected.
Monday, Dec. 21, is expected to be the busiest delivery day for holiday packages, cards and letters, with more than 30 million packages delivered.