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The Postal Service has opened hundreds of facilities and plans to hire thousands of seasonal workers to manage the influx of packages
Rachel Dobkinin New YorkTuesday 02 December 2025 03:28 GMTComments
CloseUSPS increasing shipping prices ahead of holiday season
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The U.S. Postal Service has already shipped more than two million packages this holiday season as it dives into its busiest time of the year.
Whether you are shipping a gift to a loved one or sending out holiday cards to relatives, USPS is ready for your mailing needs.
The Postal Service said in a recent news release that it has opened hundreds of facilities with “state-of-the-art sorting machines.” The USPS now has a total of 614 machines to sort through mail across the country.
As part of the Postal Service’s “Delivering for America” 10-year plan, which was published in March 2021, the federal agency will invest $40 billion in staff and infrastructure.
The USPS said its investments have expanded its processing capacity to about 88 million packages per day, which is up from 60 million last holiday season.
open image in galleryThe U.S. Postal Service has already shipped more than 2 million packages this holiday season as it dives into its busiest time of the year (file photo) (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)According to the Postal Service’s real-time Holiday Mail Counter, nearly 2.2 billion pieces of mail have so far been accepted this holiday season.
To keep up with the influx of packages, the USPS plans to hire 14,000 temporary employees on top of its full-time staff. In 2024, there were 533,724 postal employees.
The Postal Service said customers can expect their packages to be delivered in less than three days, on average, this holiday season.
The USPS said that it “remains the most affordable way to send mail and packages.” But it is delivering new “temporary” costs for holiday packages.
The Postal Service announced price hikes for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select over the summer.
open image in galleryThe Postal Service has opened hundreds of facilities and plans to hire thousands of seasonal workers to manage the influx of packages (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)“The changes will help cover extra handling costs and bring prices for the Postal Service’s commercial and retail customers in line with competitive practices,” the USPS said in a news article.
Retailers will now pay a 40-cent increase to $16, and regular Americans will now pay a 30-cent increase to $13, depending on the package service, weight of the package and delivery zone.
The price hikes took effect in early October and will remain in effect until January 18.
One of the goals of the Postal Service’s strategic plan is financial sustainability. The USPS wants to avoid $160 billion in projected losses by 2030. The Postal Service’s controllable loss for the 2024 fiscal year was $1.8 billion, compared to more than $2.2 billion for the year prior.
President Donald Trump floated the idea of privatizing the USPS before returning to office, despite it being enshrined in the Constitution.
“There is talk about the Postal Service being taken private, you do know that — not the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” the then-president-elect told reporters in December 2024.
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