They’ve been having to get into work early because of the number of packages they have to deliver.
“It far supersedes any year for package parcel deliver,” Ron Fair, city letter carrier, said.
Fair has been delivering mail for seven years. He says typically the holiday season is a busy one, but this year is like nothing before.
“Yesterday I scanned 466 [packages],” Fair said.
When asked what that is compared to normal for him, he said-
“Triple.”
According to USPS , the pandemic has resulted in record numbers of mail and packages being shipping across the country this year.
The mail carrier service says they’re also dealing with employee shortages because of Covid-19 and capacity challenges with the volume of mail they’re delivering.
According to Forbes, more people started shopping online after stores were closed, and even though stores have reopened, many people are still opting out of going into brick and mortar locations.
“We’ve seen more than 100% increase in our package volumes this year,” Mark Christopherson, Postmaster Medford, said.
Typically drivers deliver between 70 to one hundred packages per day in past holiday seasons. This year, drivers are delivering 300 to 600 packages.
The increase is stretching drivers well beyond their normal shifts.
“We’re now doing 10, 12, 14 hours,” Fair said.
Christopherson says some of them are even working on days off, like Sundays.
Despite the long mornings and the early hours, Fair says he’s just happy to know he’s helping everyone get their packages in time for Christmas.
“We’re proud to do it. This is what we do. We are the last mile of delivery.”
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