Peak holiday shipping season is here, and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) appears to be running short on truckers, temporary workers and temporary mail processing and logistic annexes – realities that could potentially influence the organization’s ability to deliver packages on time.

A recently released report from the Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General detailed the issues. It said that a “nationwide labor shortage” could lead to the USPS failing to hire all 45,000 temporary workers it intended to for peak season. The same issue could result in the Postal Service being unable to sign on the required number of truck drivers to fill 1,100 positions.

The report stated that USPS management has been negotiating with union leaders to hire enough Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) truck drivers. Meanwhile, the Postal Service is also trying to combat the driver shortage by packing more mail on fewer trucks and retraining some employees to serve as drivers.

Given the scarcity of drivers, Postal Service logistics division directors “only felt somewhat confident there would be sufficient surface transportation to timely transport packages,” the Inspector General found. The division directors felt confident or very confident there would be enough air capacity, the report said.

To help process packages during the peak-season shipping bonanza, the USPS planned to lease 70 temporary mail processing and logistics annexes. The report, issued Nov. 19, said that as of late October only 40 leases had been secured. Management told the Inspector General that finding facility space has proved challenging. Contingency plans include utilizing excess space at post offices and even renting tents under which employees can process packages.

As part of its plan to meet peak demand, the Postal Service was deploying and installing 112 package-sorting machines, with 89 in processing facilities and 23 in delivery units. All the delivery unit machines are in place, but as of the report’s writing, only 84 were set up at processing facilities. Management asserted all the machines should be in place by December, noting that they’ll help increase daily package processing capacity by 36% compared to last peak season.

The Postal Service has been taking steps throughout the year to prevent the issues it faced during the 2020 holiday season, when COVID-compelled complications drove a 37% year-over-year increase in package volume that the organization lacked capacity to handle, resulting in a 13% decline in service performance across all mail categories.

In 2021, the USPS has increased its workforce by 33,000 people, in part to help prepare for peak staffing needs. It’s also expanded facility floor space by 48% and package processing capacity by 16% compared to last peak season, among other initiatives.

Given such advancements, Postal Service leaders believe that service standards will be better this peak season compared to last – good news for companies in the promotional products industry and others across markets.

“Headquarters and field leadership are confident,” said Mike Barber, USPS’s vice president for processing and maintenance operations, “in our ability to deliver for our customers and the American people during peak and into the future.”