Christmas Day has come and gone, but many presents have yet to arrive.
The influx of mail this holiday season combined with the novel coronavirus pandemic has created massive flow problems for the United States Postal Service across the country.
Tracey McGee, a postmaster in Maryland, shared these photos on Facebook which have since been shared over 4,000 of times.
Screenshot of Tracey McGee's post on FacebookTracey McGee, Facebook
When asked about his experience with the USPS, local Gary Bordogna was quick to praise his local letter carrier, saying he always goes the extra mile and is a pleasure. However, Bordogna has had less pleasant experiences with the rest of the USPS system.
"One package shipped 2-day priority mail on December 2 was delivered on December 21. The package was sent to the Greenville hub three times before it was delivered in Spartanburg," Bordogna said. "Another package was shipped on December 10 and has not left the post office it was shipped from. Yet another shipped on that date is still in transit."
Greenville USPS Distribution CenterEmily Gill
Another Upstate local, LeAnne Rocio, said she also experienced delays in presents that were supposed to be shipped from one local area to another. Rocio bought a book for her nephew's birthday, but the package was held for eight days at the Greenville USPS Distribution Center before making its way to its destination in Taylors.
In the days approaching Christmas, a red banner was stationed at the top of the USPS website: "USPS is experiencing unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19. We appreciate your patience and remain committed to delivering the holidays to you."
Rick Badie, a spokesperson for the USPS, released the following statement. The U.S. Postal Service, similar to the broader shipping sector, continues to face near-term pressure on service performance across categories as it manages through a historic record of holiday volume this season. This negative impact is compounded by the temporary employee shortage due to the COVID-19 surge, as well as ongoing capacity challenges with airlifts and trucking for moving this historic volume of mail.
The Postal Service’s 644,000 employees continue to work diligently to address issues and remain focused on delivering for the nation. Amid the historic volume, the Postal Service continues to flex its network, including making sure the right equipment is available to sort, process and deliver a historic volume of mail and packages this holiday season. Our entire Operations team, from collections, to processing to delivery, worked tirelessly throughout this holiday season, and we continue to work around the clock to address the historic volume. We always accept all volume that is presented to us, which is adding to our challenges.
The upshot of the slow-down in snail mail: Santa may still have presents coming your way.
