GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Too many shipping concerns are on many people's minds this year, and the peak time of sending out cards and packages is here.
The United States Postal Service already sees record numbers. The USPS opened up one of its newest locations this October in Kent county.
Employees at this USPS annex location off of 36th street in Kentwood are busy. They're sorting through packages and letters so they can be delivered on time to your doorstep.
"Grand Rapids facility so far this fiscal year starting in October is, we are 14 million parcels compared to last year at 9 million parcels," Acting Plant Manager Robert Walker said.
He told FOX 17 this new sorter is one of two in Michigan and is already a major asset to getting mail out faster.
"We actually hit a record for Grand Rapids. We've had the machines since October. And last night, we ran about 49,000 parcels," he said.
However, it's the people who ultimately get these packages from this line out the door.
"We are ready to make this peak season the best that we've had. We've also about 115 employees more than we had last year at the same time," Walker said.
RELATED: Operation Santa: Send a letter to Santa with a little help from USPS!
Nationwide, the USPS predicts to handle around 12 billion pieces of mail this holiday season.
"We've invested in people by hiring more worker seasonal workers 40,000 more seasonal workers across the country," USPS Communications Specialist Elizabeth Najduch said.
This is an investment many say the USPS desperately needed after a disastrous 2020 season, where there was an influx of online shopping due to COVID, and many packages didn't make delivery on time.
"So that's investing in our people. And then we've invested in equipment, which is this new parcel sorter here at this annex facility, more than 100 annex facilities across the country to take the overflow of mail for the holiday," Najduch said.
Here are some dates you'll want to write down:
