November 10, 2021

VICE PRESIDENTS, AREA RETAIL AND DELIVERY OPERATIONS
VICE PRESIDENTS, REGIONAL PROCESSING OPERATIONS

SUBJECT:  Operations Policy for the Thanksgiving Day Holiday, Thursday, November 25, 2021

This memorandum provides general operating policy and holiday planning guidance for the upcoming 2021 Thanksgiving Day Holiday.  Service levels for this holiday are displayed in Exhibit 125.22 of the Postal Operations Manual (POM).

Delivery Operations

All offices should carefully review their staffing plans for this holiday and adjust as necessary to meet the needs of their communities.  Delivery managers and supervisors should plan appropriately for additional mail volume and packages for delivery on the day after the holiday. Offices should be staffed appropriately to have carriers leave and return on time. District support staff should review past performance and work with their Network and Logistics partners to ensure transportation is aligned to meet the expectations of additional volume that is both picked up by the carrier and presented across the window.

Continuing through the end of PEAK, we are conducting a 6:00 am to 9:00 am Morning Package Play and a 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm Evening Package Play. These will assist delivery offices in maintaining on-time service and eliminate potential delayed and curtailed mail volumes. These plays are designed to adjust for volume and staffing when volume projections exceed daily capacity. Thanksgiving Day should be utilized as a day to become current.

Wednesday, November 24:
In addition to regular delivery and collections, all delivery offices should:
•	Take appropriate action to ensure units remain in a current status; the goal is to have zero delayed or curtailed mail volumes going into Thanksgiving
•	Conduct the necessary Morning Package Plays to eliminate potential delays and minimize late returns
•	Conduct, if needed, Evening Package Plays to become current

All delivery units should take appropriate action to eliminate delayed or curtailed mail volumes. 

•	All offices should conduct AM package runs and deliver a minimum of 15% of ALL packages between 6 am and 9 am
•	Any office not current should conduct PM package runs between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm
•	There will be no Night Owl drops Wednesday night into Thursday

Thursday, November 25: Thanksgiving Day Holiday, “Widely Observed” 
Continuing through the end of PEAK, all Offices remain decoupled. 
There will be no regular delivery or collections on this holiday. 
•	Offices in a delayed status should use this holiday to become current
•	For this holiday, HUB offices will be decoupled
o	Decoupled downstream offices are not required to deliver on the holiday
o	HUB Offices should maximize Holiday Same Day Package staff to deliver network packages and avoid any potential delays on Friday
o	District offices should use Sunday Staffing SOP for this Holiday and utilize LOCs and HCUs to manage 
•	EAS must use Delivery Management Systems (DMS) to ensure proper scanning and delivery of Same Day parcels has been completed 
•	There will be Amazon Thanksgiving Drops at all Amazon locations
o	Delivery of Amazon and Priority volume is at the discretion of the District leadership
•	Offices in a delayed status should use this holiday to become current
o	Regular Night Owl drops resume Thursday into Friday morning
•	Collection boxes located in front of post offices, lobby drops and SSK’s should be monitored and collected to prevent overflow situations

Friday, November 26:
Return to normal service levels.  
•	Conduct the necessary Morning Package Plays to eliminate potential delays and minimize late returns
•	Conduct, if needed, Evening Package Plays to become current
•	Collections must start and run on time to meet the DOV to the mail processing facilities
•	Delivery managers and supervisors should plan appropriately for additional mail volume and packages for delivery after the holiday 

Retail and Post Office Operations

Management should review staffing plans and adjust as necessary to meet the needs of their communities using recent and SPLY retail sales trend information and mail volumes.

All offices must have an adequate supply of holiday stamp stock on hand heading into PEAK. Stamp Fulfillment Services (SFS) will not provide an automatic distribution of holiday stamps this year. Self Service Kiosks (SSK) Holiday Print on Demand (POD) Labels “only” will be auto-shipped to SSK sites. POD Labels should be loaded into kiosks starting November 15, 2021

Management should ensure SSKs are fully stocked and mailing supplies (Priority Mail/Priority Mail Express boxes, envelopes, labels etc.) are available for customers.  Facilities with staffing should accommodate requests for drop shipment appointments.

Properly display current closing “door cling” signage prior to the holiday. Advise customers of any Contract Postal Units (CPUs) or Approved Shipper locations where retail services will be available on the Thanksgiving holiday and provide them with the hours of operation.

Wednesday, November 24:  Normal (Wednesday) service levels will be provided in retail and post office operations.  Adjust retail staffing based on projected workload.  

•	Remote Forwarding System (RFS):  Ensure undeliverable parcels are processed timely to avoid backlogs through the holiday
•	Parcel Return Service (PRS):  Dispatch PRS as scheduled.  If needed, escalate non-picked up package issues to your Business Service Network (BSN) Representative. For Return Delivery Units (RDU), follow the 48-hour rule before dispatching to the plant
•	Technology:  Confirm all scanning equipment is operable and transmitting without incident including: ADUS, SDUS, DSS, IMDAS, MDD, MDD-IO, PASS. Extra batteries should be kept on hand as needed. For ADUS and SDUS equipment, ensure sort plans are current and all updates are completed 
•	Notice Left Shelf: Verify items receive notification or are returned according to the schedule.  For Post Office box packages, if it fits, place in the PO box or parcel locker
•	MyPO Notifications:  Check MyPO notifications, including hold mail and redelivery
•	‘First In First Out’ (FIFO):  Use placards, signs and lines for maintaining FIFO to manage volume and assist with applying the correct Delivery Day Indicator (DDI) 
•	Delivery Day Indicator (DDI):  Ensure delivery units apply the correct DDI BEFORE scanning packages (see below)
•	PM Parcel Distribution:  Review volumes, schedules, and identify and work all available parcels in the PM to ensure unit is clean before the holiday
•	Sorting and Staging Area:  Make certain all processing equipment is neat, in place, and ready for the following day.  Check housekeeping:  floors clear of debris, trash bins emptied, extra empty equipment staged ready for pickup

Date pieces are scanned	Day Packages will be Delivered	DDI Selection	
Wednesday, November 24, 2021	Wed – November 24	Today	
	Thurs – November 25	Holiday	
	Fri – November 26	Next Day *	
Thursday, November 25, 2021	Thurs – November 25	Holiday	
	Fri – November 26	Next Day *	
Friday, November 26, 2021	Fri – November 26	Today	
	Sat – November 27	Next Day *	

* Used for processing packages on the current day, BUT have a Delivery Date for the Next Day

Thursday, November 25: Thanksgiving Day Holiday, “Widely Observed” 
•	Thanksgiving Day is a “Widely Observed” holiday, which means many businesses are closed. No retail service will be available, except for those facilities normally open on this holiday.  Post Offices should provide Post Office Box access for customers to the maximum extent possible

•	Collections:  
o	There will be no regular delivery or collections on this holiday. Post Office Operations personnel on duty should check and clear collection points in front of and within the post office (e.g., collection boxes, inside lobby drops and self-service kiosks) and dispatch all outgoing mail on first available truck
•	Review District and local Air Transportation Network holiday “lift” schedules. There is no indication there will be lift for the holiday; however, if networks are operating, contact major mailers to ensure volume is collected and inducted into the system in a timely manner  
•	Amazon will drop to all Amazon sites on Thursday. Review route-book drop times to schedule personnel to accept drops in the morning
•	Night Owl sites will be scheduled, and a list provided once confirmed by our customer

Friday, November 26: 
•	Return to normal service levels.  Management should use recent sales trend information and adjust for local circumstances. Package pickup services should be provided at Dutch Doors along with soft openings to reduce customer wait times to the fullest extent possible
•	Function 4 Staffing:  
o	Plan for additional mail volume and packages for post-holiday delivery 
o	Review VAP Gap tool, post-holiday volume trend data, CSAW projections, mail arrival times and utilize F4 IVES Scheduler to plan for staffing that coincides with the projected workload and performance expectations

Processing Operations 

This holiday presents an opportunity to maintain clean operating conditions and provide quality dispatches to Delivery while maintaining service performance levels. Please adhere to the following guidelines: 

•	Opening Units kept at day zero for Letters and Flats. 
•	Advance all available Violet & Yellow Marketing Mail for Wednesday delivery 
•	Review IVES scheduling to match operating plans. 
•	Focus on RPG Compliance and P2P (Start Time & Throughput).
•	Inhibit Delivery Point Sequence (DPS) sort program regeneration prior to the holiday and re-establish afterwards. 
•	Utilize an RPG model for DPS processing on Wednesday & Thursday night that ensures an early DPS dispatch for Friday delivery. 
•	Ensure only one DPS run on Friday morning (no double runs of DPS). 
•	Communicate with Marketing and Logistics to leverage mailer package volumes available for Holiday pick up and Outgoing processing. 
•	There will be no cancellations on Thursday.
•	Decisions for Friday early collection plans will be determined locally by Region/Division. (See below instructions relative to processing and dispatching Commercial Mailings). 
•	Evaluate the processing of Outgoing Priority & 1st class on the day of the holiday to avoid late clearance on Friday. (Sites not processing Priority on the holiday must create an early collection plan to start outgoing operations earlier). 
•	Assign SWYB to avoid VAP issues to THS. 

PROCESSING NOCC
 
•	Increased nightly oversight of plant performance to plan/capacity 
•	24-hour coverage, including on the holiday, to provide assistance and escalation 
•	Increased monitoring of MMP performance to plan on Thursday 
•	Increased monitoring of DPS performance to plan on Thursday 

Plant managers must commit that Parcel Return Service (PRS-569xx) operations will be staffed and all returns sorted and available to PRS partners as agreed. 

Processing and Dispatch of Commercial Mailings 

Specific planning activities should include: 

•	Coordination with Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) Managers 
•	Coordination with Detached Mail Units 
•	Coordination with Business Service Network Managers 
•	Notifying Commercial Mailers of BMEU holiday hours and assurance that mail which is entered will be processed and dispatched 
•	Adjusting Operating Plans and RPGs to include the anticipated Commercial Mail volumes 
•	Ensuring that all processed mail is dispatched on scheduled transportation on Saturday night and Monday morning 
•	Ensure communication to field of FedEx and Dispatch Plan 

Plant managers must commit that Parcel Return Service (PRS-569xx) operations will be staffed and all returns sorted and available to PRS partners as agreed. 

Plant managers are to ensure proper Priority Mail Open & Distribute (PMOD) process, especially ensuring all destinating volume receives it’s stopped the clock Received At Opening Unit (RAOU) scan upon arrival. 

Plant managers must ensure that Integrated Operating Plans (IOPs) between the BMEUs and Operations are updated to ensure timely induction, processing and dispatch of mail presented to the BMEU prior to and on holidays. BMEU managers must ensure that all staff at both the BMEUs and the Detached Mail Units are familiar with and execute their operations in accordance with the IOP. Local collection plans must be coordinated with associate offices and must support achievement of operating precision. Managers and supervisors must plan for anticipated increased volumes after the holiday. It is vital to ensure all mail is finalized, prepared for assignment, and dispatched on the appropriate transportation network. 

Plants must make plans to assure that destinating two and three-day volumes are processed to meet service goals before and after the holiday. All missorted, missent, return-to-sender and Postal Automated Redirection System (PARS) and Flat PARS volumes must be identified, finalized, prepared for assignment and dispatched on the appropriate transportation network on Wednesday. 

Reductions in FAST holiday constraints of facility closures will not be approved, every site must maintain appointment availability.
Plants need to ensure timely acceptance of drop shipments. Please ensure that the local FAST facility profile contact information is correct.
The FAST Help Desk will be authorized to contact local Plant Managers directly to resolve urgent acceptance issues.
If there is a need to deviate from this guidance, please work through the appropriate office for an exception.

International Service Center Operations
This widely-observed holiday presents an opportunity to maximize processing to take full advantage of available lift and ensure service expectations are met.  Please adhere to the following guidelines:

•	Use the Run Plan Generator (RPG) for staffing operations.
•	Clear any delayed volumes and advance mail where possible.
•	Ensure coordination with Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to provide sufficient staffing to avoid backlogs.
•	Ensure Customs belts are staffed sufficiently to maximize efficiency.
•	Ensure on-time clearance of FC SPRs to avoid surface volume rolling over 
•	Ensure processing and dispatch of Priority throughout the holiday on Thursday and the weekend to avoid exceeding lift.

Maintenance Operations

The Maintenance Technical Support Center (MTSC) will assist mail processing sites with planned power outages in accordance with the following knowledge base (KB) article.

Facility Planned Power Outages
MTSC KB0012715

Refer to the Mail Processing Emergency Response Checklists for critical actions and tasks.

Additional Information

•	For all power outages, create a ticket on the MTSC Web Ticket Portal for the affected site and provide all relevant information about the outage.
•	For planned power outages, sites must submit a Change Request (CR) form to FAP_Power_Outage_Notification@usps.gov. The CR form is available in the MTSC KB.

Upon receipt of the MTSC web ticket, the MTSC Network Operations Application Support (NOAS) team will contact Engineering to:

•	Schedule graceful shutdowns of IDS, NDSS, and NGTC for planned outages.
•	Validate functionality after power is restored for all outages.

If a system has issues going online after power is restored, then create a new ticket for the affected system and request NST assistance.

Non-Emergency Project Requests

MTSC will provide phone support 24 hours a day through the holiday, but will curtail all non-emergency support activities to ensure sufficient HelpDesk coverage during the holiday scheduling period.  Normal projects and supplemental support activities will resume in the week

Logistics Operations

Air Transportation Network

FedEx
FedEx will operate a normal schedule on Wednesday, November 24, 2021.  There will be no FedEx operations on Thursday, November 25, 2021.  FedEx will return to a normal schedule on 
Friday, November 26, 2021.

Lives Acceptance FedEx Network:

The last day for Live animal shipments will be Tuesday day - Tuesday night November 23, 2021.  Live animal shipments will not be accepted Wednesday, November 24, 2021.  Live animal shipments will resume back on Friday, November 26, 2021.

UPS
UPS will operate on Wednesday, November 24, 2021.  There will be no UPS operations on 
Thursday, November 25, 2021 or Friday, November 26, 2021.

Supplemental Networks

There will be no Aloha (KH), Amazon (A1), AmeriJet (M6), Kalitta (K4) or Northern Air Cargo (NC) operations on Thursday, November 25, 2021. Normal operations will resume on Friday, November 26, 2021.

CAIR

Commercial air will operate a normal schedule throughout the holiday period.  The canine screening operation schedule for the holiday period will be issued via e-mail to each Area Manager, Distribution Networks.

Please ensure the volume is picked up from the Freight Houses on Friday, 11/26/2021 and processed timely.

International Transportation Plan

Import/Export Plan for the ISC
Holiday	Day of 
Week	Date	JFK 
Export	JFK 
Import	ORD
Export	ORD
Import	MIA
Export	MIA
Import	
Day before	Wednesday	11/24/2021	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	
Thanksgiving	Thursday	11/25/2021	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	
Day after	Friday	11/26/2021	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	
Holiday	Day of 
Week	Date	LAX
Export	LAX 
Import	SFO
Export	SFO
Import	
Day before	Wednesday	11/24/2021	YES	YES	YES	YES	
Thanksgiving	Thursday	11/25/2021	YES	YES	YES	YES	
Day after	Friday	11/26/2021	YES	YES	YES	YES	

Customs CBP opening plan and hours at the ISC
Holiday	Day of
Week	Date	JFK 
CBP open	JFK 
CBP hours	ORD
CBP open	ORD
CBP hours	MIA
CBP open	MIA
CBP hours	
Day before	Wednesday	11/24/2021	YES	24/7	YES	24/7	YES	06:00 - 16:00	
Thanksgiving	Thursday	11/25/2021	YES	24/7	YES	24/7	YES	06:00 - 14:00	
Day after	Friday	11/26/2021	YES	24/7	YES	24/7	YES	06:00 - 16:00	

Holiday	Day of
Week	Date	LAX
CBP open	LAX 
CBP hours	SFO
CBP open	SFO
CBP Hours	
Day before	Wednesday	11/24/2021	YES	07:00 - 22:00	YES	05:00 - 15:00; 15:00 -19:00 Portal Only	
Thanksgiving	Thursday	11/25/2021	YES	07:00 - 15:00	YES	07:30 - 15:00	
Day after	Friday	11/26/2021	YES	07:00 - 22:00	YES	05:00 - 15:00; 15:00 - 19:00 Portal Only	

Surface Transportation Network

Surface Transfer Centers will operate a non-working holiday schedule.

Thursday, November 25th
•	Normal STC Operations

Friday, November 26th
•	STC personnel will be on-site the day after the holiday.
Transportation will run on a reduced schedule the day after the holiday

Dispatch Procedures

To avoid transportation delays, manage mail volume flow before, during, and after the holiday accordingly:

•	Maximize utilization of available surface, commercial air, and FedEx transportation during the holiday period.  Dispatch all mail volume inducted on Sunday and Monday nights into the network on Tuesday to avoid overflow on Wednesday’s network.

•	Prioritization values established for planned routes will ensure commercial air capacity is utilized ahead of FedEx.  

Please disseminate these policies and procedures to the appropriate personnel in your area.  Your immediate attention to these details and dispatch procedures is appreciated.  Thank you for your assistance.