USPS: 7-Day Delivery Worked, 18% Increase in Packages

By Heather Fletcher

The U.S. Postal Service was so proud of its Holiday 2014 delivery performance, it issued a press release about it on Tuesday. Working seven days a week from Nov. 17 to Christmas Day in major cities and "high-volume areas," USPS delivered more than its predicted 450 million to 470 million packages, which had been projected to be a 12 percent increase. In its announcement on Tuesday, the postal service says December alone saw a total of 524 million package deliveries—for an 18 percent rise over 2013's volume.

"On Dec. 22 alone, the postal service delivered more than 28 million packages," reads the release. "This marked the most packages delivered in a single day in the organization's history. The package delivery record was set while also delivering approximately 463 million pieces of mail."

Part of the pride may be due to the fact that Holiday 2013 was a bit of a nightmare in terms of package delivery. While most customer complaints were reserved for UPS and FedEx when they failed to meet guaranteed arrival times—according to USA Today, The Washington Post and others—horrible weather made the job harder for everyone. Even so, USPS beat its projections for Holiday 2013, too.

"The week before Christmas, the Postal Service delivered nearly 90 million packages with a daily average of 10 million per day for the holiday season," according to a Jan. 3, 2014, USPS press release.

Perhaps a foreshadowing of the daily deliveries during Holiday 2014, USPS says in 2013 customer monitoring played into its scheduling decisions.

"It handled more than 75,000 packages on Christmas Day," USPS says of itself. "After closely monitoring mail volume early in December, the postal service adjusted its network and delivery schedule accordingly and delivered packages on three Sundays in December—the 8th, 15th and 22nd in high-volume markets."

In the Tuesday release, USPS says it similarly tested the customer pulse and determined moving 20 million packages to their destinations during the five Sundays before Christmas would keep mail going smoothly and keep its networks clear. "An additional 118,000 packages were delivered Christmas Day," adds USPS.

Improved package tracking and lowered prices for businesses and frequent shippers enhanced its Holiday 2014 numbers, USPS says.

However, USPS notes that the holidays aren't finished for some consumers, who are now using the postal service to return presents.