You know all that aggressive marketing this holiday season by the U.S. Postal Service? It appears to be paying off.
The Wall Street Journal reports the USPS share of holiday deliveries this year will increase from last year’s 35% to 40%. Volume is already up 15%
WSJ says the agency prepared well, deploying additional package sorting equipment, adding more scanning devices for carriers and clerks, hiring about 30,000 seasonal workers, increasing the number of shifts in some areas from one a day to three — that is, round-
the-clock. The USPS is also delivering on Sunday for the equivalent of about 25,000 routes. UPS and FedEx don’t usually deliver on Sundays.
Meanwhile, the Journal also reports that Amazon is looking to become less dependent on United Parcel Service. Right now, Amazon is the biggest customer of UPS.
Among the steps Amazon is taking: Buildings its own freight operation and relying more heavily on the USPS.
