Greenwood resident Sam Brown puts a package into a self serve box in the lobby of the Greenwood Post Office in December 2020.
DAILY JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
With less than a week to go until Black Friday, many in Johnson County are preparing to purchase or send gifts that will be delivered via postal services.
Amid growing concerns of possible shipping delays this year, postal officials are encouraging you to send your gifts sooner rather than later. The most important thing right now is to mail and ship early, said Susan Wright, a USPS spokesperson.
The 2020 holiday season was a record-setting year for the U.S. Postal Service, with more than 13 billion letters, cards and packages were processed and delivered, according to a USPS news release.
The USPS handed an unforeseen number of packages due to an increase in online shopping last year do the coronavirus pandemic — a trend that is likely to continue.
This year, for the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the USPS is expecting to deliver more than 12 billion letters, cards and packages for the holidays, USPS officials say.
The USPS is ready for the increased delivery load this year, officials say.
“We are ready this year and we have several things in place, so we are ready to handle the holiday shipping season,” Wright said.
Due to the anticipated deliveries, the USPS is expanding its Sunday delivery beginning Nov. 28 to locations with high package volumes. Mail carriers will also deliver packages for an additional fee on Christmas Day in select areas, USPS officials say.
The USPS has leased 7.5 million square feet of additional space across more than 40 annexes to handle the increase in the number of packages being mailed this year. They are also hiring for more than 40,000 seasonal positions nationwide to help process and deliver the mail, officials say.
This holiday season there will be increased costs for shipping — some temporary — and others permanent, USPS officials say. The temporary rates range from 25 cents to $5, depending on the product and where it is being shipped.
The temporary increases will be in place through 1:01 a.m. on Dec. 26 and will include domestic shipping products: Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select, USPS Retail Ground and Parcel Return Service. The increases are designed to cover extra costs during peak volume, USPS officials say.
The only permanent increase went into effect in August, with the cost of the Forever stamp increasing to 58 cents from 55 cents, USPS officials say.
The busiest time for mailing packages this year is expected to be a two-week period before Christmas, where customer traffic across the U.S. will steadily increase. An expected 2.3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail, including greeting cards and packages, are expected to be processed and delivered the week of Dec. 13, USPS officials say.
USPS is also offering package pickups through the USPS Click-N-Ship program. This allows people to order Priority Mail boxes, shipping labels, postage with next-day package pickup.
