USPS announces upgrades as holiday shipping season begins
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Thanksgiving is here and for many, it means the holiday shopping begins. Which of course, means the holiday shipping rush is close behind.
Thousands of packages will be sorted, shipped and left on doorsteps.
Amid high travel, parking lots fill up at Augusta Regional Airport
During what’s being hailed as a record Thanksgiving travel period, parking spaces filled up at Augusta Regional Airport on the night before the holiday.
To make that happen, the U.S. Postal Service said they’ve made a number of upgrades nationwide. They say they’ve revitalized 83 sorting and delivery centers, implemented 500 new package sorting machines and are hiring 7,500 seasonal employees.
On top of that, USPS says they’re using new next-generation delivery vehicles and expanded daily processing capacity to 60 million.
The nationwide upgrades come after the Palmetto Regional Processing and Distribution Center in metro Atlanta has been plagued with delays.
Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff questioned USPS Board of Governors Nominees on the ongoing problems.
Will Georgians open their wallets or tighten Christmas spending?
Now that Black Friday deals extend for days and sometimes weeks, a Georgia economist weighs in on the fine points of holiday spending.
“As of late spring, on-time delivery of first-class mail in north Georgia was at 36%. And as you all know, that means seniors aren’t receiving their prescriptions, it means small businesses aren’t receiving supplies and can’t get products to market. It means that vital court correspondence, notices to appear, notices of eviction are not being received,” Ossoff said.
USPS says there are three key dates customers should . The first is Dec. 18, which is the last day for retail ground shipping and First-class mail service. Dec. 19 is the last day for Priority Mail Service and Dec. 21 is the final day for Priority Mail Express Service.
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