The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is hiring 7,500 seasonal employees and putting 27,000 new delivery vehicles on the road, as it prepares for an upcoming surge in holiday packages.

Since the 2023 holiday peak season, the USPS has installed 158 new mail sorting machines across the country. The Postal Service has also tripled its daily package processing capacity to 60 million since 2020. The USPS will continue to offer priority 1-3 day shipping rates as well, at a price point that's 35% less expensive on average than similar competing services. 

"We are ready and confident to handle the holiday surge,” USPS executive vice-president Dr. Joshua Colin said. “Our ability to move packages and mail throughout our network has never been stronger. USPS continues to be the most affordable and reliable way to ship packages and mail this holiday season and year-round.”

As letters to Santa Claus start to go out in the mail, the USPS is also heading up what it calls "Operation Santa." The program lets people "adopt" a child's letter to the North Pole that's been posted online by the USPS, buy the gift the child asked for, and then bring the present to a local post office to be mailed out in time for Christmas Day. Letter adoptions started on November 18, and will run through December 16. All gifts should be shipped by December 16 to ensure they arrive in time for the holiday.