DENVER – Christmas gifts may not arrive on time as US Post offices struggle to meet delivery demands.
James Boxrud, a spokesman for the Colorado-based USPS, said they are facing a historic volume of correspondence.
“This week is our busiest week, our busiest month, our busiest year ever,” said Boxrud. “We are seeing so many packages.”
Millions of Americans turned to online shopping during the pandemic for daily needs and again for Christmas shopping.
“It’s like the perfect storm,” said Boxrud.
The USPS is overloaded as people face long delays and deliveries beyond the promised priority shipping window.
Stephanie Turner, a teacher and a business owner, said that with the cancellation of family reunions, her list of packages has gotten a little longer this year.
“We would normally send three or four boxes of gifts and this year we are sending five because of people we are not seeing,” said Turner. “If everyone is sending a little more, it will be overwhelming.”
She sent her gifts right after Thanksgiving and said they were all there, but it is her business that she is concerned about. Turner sells custom jackets and blouses on his website and at Poshmark.
“At the moment, I have items that I sent on December 1 that haven’t arrived yet, so it’s three weeks,” said Turner. “I feel really bad for my customers, but there is not much I can do.”
Shipping delays hold money – it is not paid until the package arrives.
The Washington Post reported that nearly 19,000 of the agency’s 644,000 workers are in quarantine after the positive test for COVID-19. They also found that mail performance plummeted and only 75% of first class mail, such as letters and bills, arrived during the promised period in the week of December 5. The courier service scored 95% last year during the same period.
“We are flexing our resources,” said Boxrud. “We are borrowing people from areas in Colorado, bringing them to an area that needs help just to try to keep up with this flow.”
On Monday, the USPS delivered 971,000 packages to Colorado and Wyoming, according to Boxrud.
Private express carriers have also stopped serving some companies, which has driven more shipments through the USPS, adding to an already overloaded agency, the Washington Post reported.
Turner is encouraging people to print pictures of gifts that have not arrived and to wrap them up. She said she read the tip online.
“Be patient – it will happen,” said Tuner.
Some Colorado residents believe that, while frustrating, they understand that postal workers are doing their best in these circumstances.
“I feel bad for these guys,” said Turner.
Many postal workers are working overtime and will work until Christmas Eve to deliver parcels. Boxrud said that part of the express courier will be delivered on Christmas Day.