Busy holiday season enough to boost USPS?
By: Millaine Wells
Updated: December 8, 2012
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) - This holiday season the post office plans to ship close to 18 billion cards, letters and packages.
But with revenue falling and locations closing will service be slower?
Local 5's Millaine Wells took a look at your options.
"The food in Wisconsin must be really good because we send a lot of beef, cheese all over the United States" says Robin Pritzl, Manager of the UPS Store
UPS expects to move 527 million packages in its trademark brown trucks this holiday season.
The United States Post Office is just as busy.
"The 2nd busiest mailing day will be December 10th. We expect 933,000 cancelations that day through Green Bay" explains Sean Hargadon, spokesman for the United States Postal Service.
For the post office's budget holidays are something of a gift.
The struggling service lost a record $15.9 billion last year.
To put that into perspective, they handled 159 billion pieces of mail in 2011.
Quick math means the post office lost a dime on every item it delivered.
"We are trying to find every way possible to keep the organization viable as we move forward" says Hargadon.
Around the nation and here in Northeast Wisconsin that has meant closing locations and cutting staff.
However, temporary crews are being added so there is no disruption to holiday mail service.
The agency hopes a busy December will get the ball rolling in 2013.
"This is a great beginning of a quarter for us. Our quarter starts in October and we try to carry the momentum going into the next year" he says.
While one money saving option is cutting service to five days a week for the holidays the post office is actually adding a day.
"We are going to be offering some special collection pickups on Sunday, December 9th, and Sunday, December 16th".
To take the stress out of your mailing, do it early.
Also, use capital letters, it helps the machines sort mail faster, meaning it will get to your friends and family sooner.
"A lot of times people will come in, set it on the counter and say finally it's out of my hands, into yours just take it" says Pritzl with a smile.
Here is a look at some very important deadlines if you want your package to arrive by Christmas:
Dec. 11 express mail international
Dec. 14 parcel post
Dec. 20 first-class mail
Dec. 21 priority mail
Dec. 22 express mail
