'Unprecedented' mail volume delays Christmas gifts

Dec 28, 20200

Nicole Norfleet, Star Tribune count

Jeff Pedro, who has worked as a carrier for the U.S. Postal Service for 16 years, delivered mail and packages on Dec. 17 on his route in the St. Paul neighborhood of Dayton's Bluff. Some who mailed holiday presents weeks early this year found they didn't act early enough as Christmas arrived with their gifts stuck in transit.

SAN RAMON, Calif. - Some who mailed holiday presents weeks early this year found they didn't act early enough as Christmas arrived with their gifts stuck in transit.

The U.S. Postal Service said on its website that it was "experiencing unprecedented volume increases and limited employee availability due to the impacts of COVID-19."

Austin Race of Grand Rapids, Michigan, placed an online order Nov. 30 for a collector's model die-cast of a NASCAR racing car. It hadn't reached his father after the Postal Service passed through his neighborhood Thursday night, even though he was notified Dec. 8 that it was shipped by two-day priority mail.

https://www.startribune.com/unprecedented-mail-volume-delays-christmas-gifts/600004230/