How Your Holiday Gifts And Cards Get Where They Need To Go

(NAPSI)—The daily operations performed by the U.S. Postal Service depend on a vast network of people that collect, transport, process and deliver the nation’s mail. The Postal Service has nearly 34,000 Post Office locations and more than 350 processing and distribution facilities nationwide. This network processes 425 million pieces of mail each day. 

How It Works

Once packages, letters and greeting cards are dropped in the U.S. Mail, postal employees begin moving it through the network. 

Mail collected from retail locations, residences, businesses and blue collection boxes are transported to processing facilities. There, letter mail is initially processed on equipment that reads the destination addresses, sprays on bar codes for automation purposes and verifies postage. This mail is then sorted in delivery order for the carrier.

Because packages come in many shapes and sizes, they are processed on equipment specifically designed to handle a wide variety of boxes. Machines read the package’s destination address, scan its bar code to update tracking information, check for proper postage and determine its size and weight. Packages are then sorted into bins based on the ZIP Code of their final destinations. 

After being sorted, mail and packages are trucked to processing and distribution facilities near the destination using an extensive fleet of vehicles. The mail ultimately arrives at a local Post Office location for delivery.

Employees at the Post Office sort packages to the carriers who will be delivering them. Carriers gather their packages and trays of mail, load their vehicles and head out to deliver their routes.

For Happier Holidays

To better handle increased holiday volume, the Postal Service has made network infrastructure investments. As part of $40 billion in capital investments under the Delivering for America plan, the Postal Service is installing 137 new package sorting machines across the nation this year. This brings the organization’s total to 249 new processing machines since the beginning of 2021. The new equipment combined with increased operational precision will expand daily package processing capacity to 60 million.

The Postal Service Delivers

It takes an immense network, sophisticated technology and more than 600,000 dedicated employees to get that special gift or card to friends and family for the holidays. The Postal Service delivers the holidays. It’s what they do!

Learn More

For more information, visit usps.com/holidaynews.

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