According to preliminary figures, the USPS reported strong performance from October 1 to December 23. In a year-end press conference, the Postal Service stated that its peak season preparations “reflected strategic investments and operational precision improvements.” Operational efficiencies are attributed to the Delivering for America program initiated over the past two years.

The company reiterated the focus of Delivering for America, as well as the measures taken ahead of the busy season:

“In November, the organization completed the installation of 137 new package sorting machines across its network, which expanded daily package processing capacity to 60 million. USPS installed a total of 249 new processing machines since the launch of the Delivering for America plan in March 2021, part of a $40 billion investment in the postal network.

“Additionally, USPS stabilized its permanent workforce by converting more than 100,000 workers to full-time roles since the beginning of 2021(with more than 41,000 part-time workers converted to full-time since January 2022) and successfully hiring an additional 20,000 seasonal employees.”

The Post Office’s efforts certainly paid off across the majority of served markets. However, peak season was not completely blemish free for the USPS. Regarding the negative effects of winter weather, the Postal Service stated that delivery was affected in some local markets “due to industry-wide transportation difficulties caused by winter storms across the Midwest and the East Coast in late December.” In those markets, the Postal Service is still working to restore service.