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By Matthew Robinson
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The United States Postal Service (USPS) has revealed its preparations for the 2025 holiday season, unveiling a series of investments and upgrades aimed at ensuring reliable deliveries for millions of Americans.
The USPS said that it had invested nearly $20 billion in its facilities and processing capabilities over the past four years in order to meet the delivery needs of its customers.
"Through its investments, the Postal Service has built capacity into its processing, logistics and delivery infrastructure to meet customers' evolving mail and package needs," the agency said.
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Why It Matters
The holiday mailing and shipping season is traditionally the busiest period for USPS, testing the resiliency of America's mail delivery infrastructure.
For 2025, USPS has made substantial investments in technology, workforce, and facility expansions in an effort to improve service reliability and customer experience.
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What To Know
The USPS' improvements ahead of the 2025 holiday season include the following:
- Expanded processing capacity: The agency has added 614 state-of-the-art package sorting machines over five years, including 94 in 2025. Daily package processing capacity has increased to 88 million, up from 60 million. In December 2024, USPS delivered 45 percent more packages per day than its competitors, the service said.
- Workforce stabilization: Nearly 232,000 pre-career employees have become full-time staff since 2020. For 2025, USPS will hire 14,000 temporary seasonal workers—down from 40,000 in previous years, reflecting increased operational stability.
- Service standards update: USPS updated its standards in July, aiming for a two- to three-day regional mail and package turnaround to increase speed and reliability.
- Facility expansion: New postal facilities have opened across the country this year, with others planned for Memphis, Tennessee; Birmingham in Alabama; Tampa, Florida, and San Antonio. Over the past four years, USPS has also opened nine regional processing and distribution centers, 19 regional transfer hubs, 17 local processing centers, and 133 sorting and delivery centers.
- Fleet modernization: USPS has received nearly 29,000 new vehicles in 2025, and already deployed more than 24,000 on routes. The agency expects to acquire a total of 106,480 new vehicles, including 66,000 zero-emission electric vehicles.
- Shipping options: USPS offers a range of affordable options to ensure that customers' mail and packages are delivered on time during the holidays. These include: USPS Ground Advantage (two to five business days), Priority Mail (two to three business days) and Priority Mail Express (one to three business days).
USPS added that it will continue to prioritize morning parcel delivery, enhanced scanning technology and extended retail and pickup delivery hours at popular post offices.
What People Are Saying
David Steiner, the U.S. postmaster general, said: "The Postal Service plans throughout the year to deliver the nation’s mail and packages during the high-volume holiday season and we are well prepared and ready to deliver for the American public.
"For the past several years, the Postal Service has been gaining market share in our package business, which reflects the strong value and excellent portfolio of the shipping options we provide. We expect to see a continuation of this trend in the coming holiday period and to continue winning a larger share of the nation’s shipping business."
USPS said it is "implementing strategies to stay ahead of challenges, pulling together its people, technology, transportation, equipment and facilities into a well-integrated, streamlined mail and package network.
"As a result, USPS is ready to handle the expected increase in mail and package volume during the holidays. These efforts will enable dependable, affordable and high-quality service throughout the season."
A USPS spokesperson told Newsweek: "The Postal Service is among the highest rated federal government agencies according to the most recent Gallup poll — and has been since the organization was first included in their research beginning in 2014. USPS also made the most recent Pew Research Center list of agencies viewed positively — and has consistently topped the list since its inclusion in 2010.
"This year, as in previous years, the Postal Service is hiring seasonal help to supplement its full-time workforce, enabling USPS to manage the increased holiday volume in key locations across the country.
"Every holiday season we encourage our customers to mail greetings and packages by the recommended deadlines to ensure delivery by December 25. There are also numerous ways to save time during the holiday season, some customers can even skip the line at the Post Office, by using various features such as Click n Ship, free package pickup, or self-service kiosks found in select Post Office locations throughout the country.
"For tips on mailing and shipping preparation, ordering free shipping supplies, packaging guidelines (including restricted and prohibited item information), and Post Office location hours, visit usps.com, the USPS YouTube channel, or the USPS Holiday Newsroom."
What Happens Next
USPS is implementing a 10-year transformation plan called "Delivering For America," which aims to support continued modernization and improve financial sustainability.
Update 11.20 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a statement from the USPS.
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