What:

There is a flurry of packages that have landed in the Bay Area and processing facilities across the Bay and the nation are ready to deliver!

What used to be termed the “busiest mailing day” of the year has morphed into the “busiest week,” all driven by an increase in online retail purchases, which mean packages, bigger packages. Nearly 2.3 billion pieces of mail, including greeting cards and packages, will be processed and delivered the week of Dec. 13 nationwide.

The Oakland Mail Processing and Distribution Center is expecting close to 7 million packages alone to have been processed through the building for the month of December.

As packages have gotten larger, so has the machinery needed to process them. Where size matters, mail processing facilities have transformed the work area to accommodate a behemoth machine to handle and process over-sized parcels. The universal sort system (USS) is a robust, highly automated machine for handling the organization’s growing volume of very large pieces, a result of increased online shopping.

The Oakland Mail Processing and Distribution Center has one such machine, in addition to machinery that handles parcels of a variety of sizes.

When:

Wednesday, December 15, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM.
Please RSVP to Kristina.Uppal@usps.gov no later than Wednesday, Dec. 15  at 2:00 PM.

Where:

Oakland Processing & Distribution Center
1675 7th St.
Oakland, CA 94615

Who:

Eduardo Cuadra, Oakland Maintenance Manager

MEDIA ALERT:

For access to the facility with a confirmed RSVP, contact Eduardo Cuadra (c) (415) 260-8694
Please be aware that you will be entering our plant and proper footwear is required. Please avoid heeled shoes and pumps. Ensure that you are wearing closed-toed (preferably leather) shoes that are non-slip.

Background:

As part of the USPS 10-Year Plan, 112 additional package sorting machines have been installed throughout the country. The USPS has the most sophisticated mail processing and delivery network in the world and continues to maintain a keen eye on product, performance, price and most importantly people.

As a result of customer package demand, the Postal Service relied on manual by-hand sortation of packages to route them to our customers. The installation of these additional machines is a game changer, allowing for 12 times the package sortation capability than manual sortation and a better, more reliable service to our customers locally and beyond.

USPS continues to remain on the cutting edge by proactively thinking ahead to provide more predictable service to our customers ahead of the much-anticipated holiday seasons. Installing package sorting machines is not only part of a $40 billion dollar investment, it is a step towards modernizing operations to better equip the Postal Service to provide consistent and reliable service to customers.

Last year’s holiday season was like no other for both USPS and our customers. Demand for package delivery grew nearly 48 percent year over year (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2019 to the same timeframe in 2020) nationwide while the American public relied on USPS to deliver their holiday and essential correspondence. The Pandemic drove a surge in online shopping and ecommerce, sparking a new comfort level for customers to shop from home. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the Postal Service delivered a record 1.1 billion packages during the holidays.

The Postal Service is also providing another important way to help people get back on their feet – jobs. The surge in mail and package volumes has opened the opportunity for those who have been left without jobs and need employment. There is a demand to fill hundreds of openings across the Bay Area for the holidays and beyond.

A Postal Service national press release containing Infrastructure Investments as they relate to the 10-Year Plan can be accessed at this link.

The Postal Service delivers more ecommerce shipments to homes than anyone else, with one notable exception on Christmas Eve.

2021 Holiday Shipping Deadlines

The Postal Service recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for expected delivery by Dec. 25 to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) and domestic addresses:

Dec. 15 — USPS Retail Ground service
Dec. 16 — APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express Military service
Dec. 17 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
Dec. 17 — First-Class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
Dec. 18 — Priority Mail service
Dec. 23 — Priority Mail Express* service
Alaska to/from Continental U.S.

Dec. 18 — First-Class Mail
Dec. 18 — Priority Mail
Dec. 21 — Priority Mail Express
Hawaii to/from mainland

Dec. 17 — Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
Dec. 21 — Priority Mail Express

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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