This holiday season, the United States Postal Service has increased its workforce by about 10% and added additional routes to cope with increased demand.

In the middle of the holiday rush, the USPS North Texas Processing and Distribution Center in Coppell—one of four across North Texas—has around 1,400 employees working across three shifts to ensure packages and letters are sorted and ready for delivery, said Sergio Reynoso, North Texas Processing and Distribution Center plant manager.

The overview

On a daily basis, the facility is processing around 450,000 packages in December, an increase from the 300,000 daily average throughout the rest of the year, Reynoso said. It also sorts about 9 million letters daily in December, compared to 6 million per day during the other 11 months, he added.

“The organization does a lot of preplanning and forecasting on the volume,” Reynoso said. “The Metroplex continues to grow [and bring] a lot of e-commerce here.”

To cope with increased demand during the holiday season, additional carriers are dispatched to run morning delivery routes for letter mail, Reynoso said, with package delivery scheduled for later in the day.

The details

Deadlines to mail within the lower 48 states for the holiday season are:

• Dec. 16 for first-class mail and USPS Ground Advantage
• Dec. 18 for Priority Mail
• Dec. 20 for Priority Mail Express

Reynoso said to avoid extravagant wrapping or labels as those are not always processed efficiently by the facility’s machinery. On average, it takes a little over two days to process a letter and a little over three days to process a package, he said.

Quote of note

“We are ready for the holidays,” said Carol Hunt, strategic communications specialist for the southern area. “This is our time of year. We are built and equipped for this.”