USPS prepares for the Holiday with higher package processing capabilities

Additional package sorters installed in Woburn and Worcester, Massachusetts

The Postal Service is preparing for the holiday and is ready to meet the growing customer demand for package delivery. Two of 118 new package sorters distributed nationwide have been installed in the Woburn and Worcester Post Offices in Massachusetts to provide more reliable service that customers expect through the holiday and beyond.

Last year’s holiday season was like no other for both USPS and its customers. Package delivery grew nearly 48 percent driven by the surge in online shopping and ecommerce due to the COVID pandemic. Last year, despite the challenges of the pandemic, the Postal Service delivered a record 1.1 billion packages.

Massachusetts Post Offices, like many facilities across the nation, relied on manual sortation of packages. The new package sorters will process thousands of packages an hour – up to 12 times faster than manual sortation.

As part of the 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence, the Postal Service is investing $40 billion on people, technology and equipment to modernize its operation and provide a world class service to customers, including the installation of new package sorters.

These new package sorters will meet our customers’ evolving mailing and shipping needs and help achieve long term service improvements.

With this immediate investment, the Postal Service is prepared to deliver the holiday season.