The Postal Service is once again spotlighting its milestone holiday season deliveries in communities across the nation.
On Dec. 4, the organization delivered its 3 billionth piece of holiday mail — a package local letter carrier Dan Reed dropped off at a boutique in DeWitt, NY.
“It’s fun to be out giving people their packages,” Reed told a local TV station that covered the delivery. “They’re looking forward to you coming.”
Five days later, USPS made its 4.5 billionth delivery when Santa Claus, IN, Postmaster Joshua Graham took a package to a store that sells Christmas décor.
“We have a great relationship with the Post Office, especially here in Santa Claus,” said Heather Osborne, the store manager. “We both understand the importance of the season for this community.”
The Postal Service began marking milestone deliveries during the 2023 holiday season.
The holidays are the busiest time of year for the organization, as employees across the nation work to accept, process and deliver billions of cards, letters and packages.
This year, USPS prepared for the holidays by installing more package sorting machines in processing facilities, updating service standards to better deliver mail and packages within a given region, rolling out new delivery vehicles and making other improvements.
In addition to marking the milestones, the Postal Service is inviting the news media to tour its processing facilities and see its new equipment up close.
For example, at the North Texas Processing and Distribution Center in Coppell, TX, the organization is showcasing its new package induction linear sorter, which dramatically increases package processing capacity.
During last year’s holiday season, the Coppell plant processed 60 million packages — a number expected to rise to roughly 88 million packages this year.
“The population is growing. The leaders of the organization felt it was worth the investment in order to give the DFW Metro more firepower to handle this peak season,” Joshua Dean, the plant manager, told a local ABC station this month.
Meanwhile, at the New Jersey Network Distribution Center in Jersey City, employees showcased the Matrix Regional Sorter, a new machine that can process 1.5 million packages a day.
“I tell everyone: Treat every package as if it’s your own,” De’Jayla Watson, the plant’s acting manager, told a local CBS station last week. “Treat every package as if it’s something you ordered for a loved one at Christmastime.”
