The United States Postal Service’s Plans for the 2025 Holiday Season

The holiday shopping season consistently brings a surge in shipments, making it one of the busiest times of the year for postal and courier services. To ensure the timely delivery of gifts, cards, and care packages, carriers begin preparing for this peak period several months in advance. In October 2025, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced its strategy for the upcoming holiday season, assuring customers that their mail and packages would be delivered on time.

Every year, the USPS processes and delivers billions of items during the holiday rush. To maintain reliable delivery times amid such high demand, the USPS begins its seasonal planning well in advance. The following is an overview of the major operational adjustments the USPS has made to meet the increased shipping volume expected in the 2025 holiday season.

Expanding daily package processing capacity. Thanks to the deployment of more than 600 package sorting machines over the last five years, including more than 90 installed in 2025, the USPS daily processing capacity has increased from 60 million to 88 million. These new machines enable the USPS to handle larger and more packages, as well as ensure tracking visibility.

Hiring 14,000 seasonal employees. Every year, the USPS hires seasonal workers to handle the increased volume of mail and packages in key locations. This year, the company plans to hire an additional 14,000 employees for the peak holiday season.

Enhancing turnaround service. In July, the USPS revised its service standards, broadening the scope of its regional turnaround service, which focuses on processing and delivering mail and packages within the same area. Under the updated standards, turnaround deliveries will follow a two- or three-day time frame. Consequently, local customers and businesses can anticipate quicker and more reliable delivery of holiday mail and packages within their region.

Opening new facilities. In recent years, the USPS has opened nine regional processing and distribution centers, 19 regional transfer hubs, 17 local processing centers, and 133 sorting and delivery centers. These new facilities enhance processing not just during the holiday season, but year-round.

Deploying new vehicles. This year, the USPS received nearly 29,000 new vehicles and placed more than 24,000 of them into active service on delivery routes. The USPS plans to acquire a total of 106,480 new vehicles, 66,000 of which will be zero-emission electric models.

As in previous years, the USPS will prioritize morning parcel deliveries and utilize enhanced scanning technology. The USPS will also extend retail and pickup hours at high-traffic post office locations.

It is also worth mentioning that the USPS implemented temporary price increases for certain package services on October 5, 2025. Peak season surcharges apply to USPS Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express. The amount of the increase varies from $0.40 to $16.00, depending on the shipping zone (1–4 or 5–9), service type, and item weight. These temporary rates will remain in effect until January 18, 2026.

Despite the USPS’s efforts to ensure timely deliveries during the holiday season, delays or disruptions may still occur. Therefore, customers are advised to plan their holiday shipments in advance and be mindful of the relevant shipping deadlines. These range from December 16 to 20 for domestic items and from December 2 to 16 for international items, depending on the service type and destination.