ATLANTA — Compared to last year, more Christmas presents got to their destinations on-time this year.
But Channel 2’s Michael Doudna learned that Georgia is still lagging behind the national average.
The USPS says more than 10 billion packages and parcels were sent through the mail.
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“That’s not a figure that my mind can really grasp,” Lauren Strine said.
“We just pay our $10 and we say, ‘Thank you, post office,’ and make it work,” Kevin Bailey said.
Even though it’s a complex logistical system, most people just trust their packages will make it on time. But they don’t always arrive in timely fashion.
“I think we don’t really think about it anymore. We take it for granted,” Strine said.
Channel 2 Action News has covered how problems at the Palmetto plant led to everything from dead chicks to missing medications and resulted in hearings on Capitol Hill.
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At this time last year, USPS’s on-time service percentage was 65%. But this year, that percentage was 84%, which is just slightly below the national average.
“I think it can be attributed to the preemptive hiring of the seasonal workforce, and that seems to be working well for USPS,” Emory University logistics professor Nikolay Osadchiy said.
According to USPS, they hired 14,000 seasonal workers to help carry the load. New sorting machines have increased their daily sorting capacity by 28 million packages.
“A little bit of preparation goes a long way,” Osadchiy said.
In a statement, USPS says they strive to provide the best possible service, all year long and during the extremely busy holiday season, and point to improvements made to the system to try to have things arrive in time for Christmas.
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