Walton said the new machines are a part of a comprehensive, 10-year plan called “Delivery for America.” The plan includes $40 billion in investments such as new package sorters and facilities that will modernize and improve the Postal Service’s infrastructure.
In addition to this, an additional 46 annex facilities are being leased within 5 miles of regular facilities across the country to accommodate holiday surges and overflow of packages. As the plans for “Delivery for America” are implemented, the Postal Service has set a goal to meet or exceed 95% on-time delivery across all mail and shipping product classes.
This plan comes a year after the COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented surge in online shopping and culminated with a historic volume of packages for the 2020 holiday season.
During last year’s holiday season, USPS delivered a record 1.1 billion packages despite employee shortages caused by the pandemic. The Huntsville facility processed more than 250,000 packages alone.
The Postal Service its service performance numbers in the second quarter of this year increased in numerous categories as first-class mail marketing mail and periodicals were all delivered on time at least 6% more often than the first quarter of the year.