SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The countdown to Christmas is on and our mailmen and women are ready. There’s less than two weeks until the big day, but they spend all year preparing for the holiday shipping rush.
ABC10 followed along with a mailman to find out what it takes to get your packages and cards delivered on time.
"I guess we're just going to go out and do a little delivering - some holiday cheer - and get these customers ready for their Christmas,” said Jacob Studer, a mail carrier.
Studer isn’t letting anything slow him down – not even dogs. You could see just how much mail there is as he made his way along his route in an Arden-Arcade neighborhood Monday.
“It's just been building every day. More and more people are getting stuff shipped home and so the volume of the mail is just getting more and more,” said Studer.
But before your mail makes it to the trucks, it must be sorted first.
“We definitely have been amping up for peak season, all throughout the year since January. You know, the increase with package delivery, everyone wants those Christmas gifts, so we're prepared,” said Sacramento postmaster Angela Bye.
Bye says the postal service installed 249 additional sorting machines nationwide in field units. One of them is in Sacramento, and it has the capability to process up to 2,500 packages an hour.
"I think COVID obviously affected every business no matter how big… large scale, small scale, we adjusted, and we followed all the protocols. We got through and we're back staffed and ready to go,” said Bye.
The postal service says it converted 100,000 part-time employees to full-time employees. They also hired 20,000 seasonal employees and continue to hire for added support.
“We do deliver earlier; we do deliver later. That extra support helps us on the streets and in our processing plants,” said USPS communication specialist Kristina Uppal.
The postmaster says they stay busy through April, processing your returns and shipping stuff you buy in after-holiday sales.
