[press release]

U.S. Postal Service Expects to Deliver More than 15 Billion Pieces of Holiday Mail and Packages This Year
USPS to handle more than half a billion packages this season – 10.5 percent volume increase
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service expects to deliver a total of approximately 15.5 billion cards, letters, flats, and packages during the 2015 holiday season. In addition, they are projecting approximately 600 million packages will be delivered between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, which is an increase of 10.5 percent over last year’s volume.

In time for the holidays, the Postal Service will offer real-time delivery notifications – meaning customers who sign up for alerts at myusps.com will receive notification within a few minutes of the delivery scan for select packages.

“Customers can count on the Postal Service and our more than 600,000 dedicated employees to deliver their holiday gifts, cards and letters,” said Megan J. Brennan, Postmaster General and CEO. “We have been investing in our infrastructure including package sortation equipment, new delivery vehicles and scanning technology to expand our capacity, improve operating efficiency and provide real-time visibility.”

Additionally, the Postal Service plans to hire 30,000 employees for the 2015 holiday season to meet the needs of its customers.

Following the success of the 2014 holiday season, the Postal Service will again deliver packages seven days a week in select major cities and high-volume areas beginning Nov. 29, for the four Sundays before Christmas. They expect to deliver on average approximately 5 million packages every Sunday during December.

Busiest Mailing and Delivery Days
The Postal Service predicts that Monday, December 14, will be the busiest mailing and shipping day for holiday packages, letters and cards. The busiest mailing day also is expected to be the Postal Service’s busiest day online with more than 7 million customers predicted to visit usps.com.

Monday, December 21, is expected to be the busiest delivery day for holiday packages, cards and letters. The Postal Service anticipates that more than 30 million packages will be delivered on the peak delivery day alone.

Holiday Advertising Campaign
The Postal Service launched its advertising campaign this week, featuring direct mail, television and print advertisements, as well as social media and digital promotions.

The 2015 campaign stresses the reliability and value the Postal Service offers for both consumers and businesses during the holidays. In addition to real-time delivery notifications and enhanced tracking, other highlighted services include the ability to order free Priority Mail boxes and request free next-day Package Pickup.

2015 Christmas Shipping Deadlines
For delivery in anticipation of Christmas, the Postal Service recommends keeping the following mailing and shipping deadlines in mind:

• Nov. 7 – APO/FPO/DPO Standard Post
• Dec. 8 – Priority Mail Express International
• Dec. 15 – Standard Post
• Dec. 19 – First Class Mail
• Dec. 19 – Global Express Guaranteed
• Dec. 21 – Priority Mail
• Dec. 23 – Priority Mail Express

[press release]
Canada Post ready for anticipated record-breaking parcel volume this holiday season

OTTAWA – With parcel volumes expected to hit record levels again this year, Canada Post is gearing up for its busiest season in history. The corporation has hired an additional 2,000 temporary workers, will again deliver on weekends in major urban centres starting in November and has doubled its capacity in transportation to deliver the holidays.

For the first half of the year, parcel volumes linked to e-commerce have grown 18% compared to the previous year and holiday-level parcel volumes were noted in the summer for the back-to-school season. During the months of November and December last year, Canada Post delivered more than 36 million parcels to Canadians.

Canada Post expects December 14th to be the busiest day of the year for delivery agents and retail stores across the country, with an anticipated 3,400 parcels delivered each minute while processing plants will peak a few days later (December 16th) with 1,500 parcels processed each minute.

Weekend deliveries
Starting in November, Canada Post will begin delivering parcels on weekends in major urban centres.

Seasonal workforce
More than 2,000 seasonal workers have been hired to complement the 49,000 delivery and processing employees.

Travelling and transportation
Each work day, Canada Post employees will travel some 1.5 million km delivering to 15.7 million addresses—a distance that would take a person to the moon and back twice.

Canada Post has also significantly increased its transportation network to ensure timely delivery.

About Canada Post
Canada Post is the country’s leading provider of electronic commerce and customer communication solutions. It reaches 15.7 million addresses, operates the country’s largest retail network, and offers affordable and reliable service with convenient pickup and return options for online shoppers. Together, Canada Post, Purolator Inc. and SCI Logistics offer market-leading end-to-end solutions for e-commerce shippers by leveraging the assets and expertise of the Canada Post Group of Companies.