A month after the holidays, some people still receive Christmas cards by mail

A month after the holidays, some people still receive Christmas cards by mail

by
Americans went on to make Christmas shopping online in record numbers, which flooded the system with what the USPS says is a “historic volume” of mail and packages. As a result, packages, cards and other correspondence sometimes take more than a month to reach their destination. The USPS has delivered more than 1.1 billion packages shipped during the holiday season, a record number, CNN said.

But at the same time, the Post Office faces other problems. More than 39,000 employees out of 644,000 tested positive for Covid-19, a USPS spokesman told CNN, representing about 6% of its workforce.

ShipMatrix, a shipping operations software company, found that hundreds of thousands of packages were delayed for at least several days, with some taking even longer.

Customers in states like Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and New York have also experienced some of the longest delays due to heavy snowstorms in December, ShipMatrix reported.

“During the high season, the Postal Service, together with the broader transport sector, faced pressure on the performance of the service in all categories, since it achieved a record volume, while overcoming the shortage of employees due to the continued increase in COVID-19 cases, winter storms in the Northeast, as well as the continuing capacity challenges with air and road transport to move historical volumes of mail, “the USPS said in a statement to CNN.

Facilities are still working with delays

In Philadelphia, packages went “through the roof” last month, US Postal Union President Nick Casselli told CNN.

“I’ve been in the mail for 35 years, I never saw what I’m seeing,” he said.

There were so many packages arriving that postal workers were unable to process them in time, said Casselli.

High-volume 'perfect storm', COVID employees delaying USPS deliveries before Christmas
A month later, processing continues and residents of cities across the country regret the wait for the late holiday mail to arrive.
Kim Deyo in Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, told CNN’s affiliate that WNEP sent her a package to her mother in another part of Pennsylvania on December 14. It was supposed to arrive later that week, but instead, it was on a tour: from Jacksonville, Florida, to Tallahassee and back to Pennsylvania.

Ten days later, when Christmas came, the package still hadn’t arrived. Ultimately, he arrived after the holiday, said Deyo.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, James Seaman told CNN affiliate KJRH this week that he was still receiving Christmas cards that were originally mailed a month ago.

“You cannot rely on mailing things now and in a timely manner,” Seaman told KJRH.

And it’s not just gifts or cards. Accounts are also being affected.

In Pennsylvania, Kevin Thorne told CNN WPVI affiliate last week that his entire neighborhood had not yet received his electricity bills.

“I am never late for my bills, they will make my bills late,” he said.

And this despite the fact that the Philadelphia processing plant has hired more than 280 employees for the holiday season, USPS spokeswoman Naddia Dhalai told WPVI.

The USPS is not the only one experiencing delays – FedEx and UPS have also warned customers of possible shipment delays.

“Record high volumes of e-commerce orders, COVID 19 closures and weather events can cause delays in delivery,” warns the FedEx website. In March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, UPS indefinitely suspended its Service Warranty, which offers money-back guarantees at certain shipping times, “in light of general coronavirus uncertainties”.

Things will – eventually – go back to normal. As the USPS progresses through the huge holiday inventory, the service “fully anticipates performance improvements,” the USPS said in a statement to CNN.

Paul P. Murphy of CNN contributed to this report.

.Source