Rise in package deliveries keeping postal workers busier than ever (+video)

The U.S. Postal Service is bracing for what it expects could be its busiest holiday season ever.

The service forecasts a record 4.1 million packages will be sent in Kansas this holiday season.

That’s not because Kansans have suddenly decided to write greetings to all of their acquaintances.

Tim Norton, a USPS representative, said package deliveries, especially those from online retailers, have been a major driver of business for the postal service.

“Packages overall have picked up enormously over the last three to four years, and it’s because people can order things and they can ship them with the postal service,” Norton said.

Local USPS officials took reporters Tuesday night into the service’s Wichita sorting facility, which handles the mail for a large part of the state.

The facility hummed with the loud droning of machinery, punctuated by rooster calls every so often – yes, you can mail live roosters.

The facility, located by the airport on Harry, operates around the clock.

It processes 2.2 million cards, letters and packages daily.

Post office officials are predicting a 10.5 percent increase in packages sent this holiday – nearly 600 million nationally.

According to a news release from the postal service, the busiest mailing day of the year is the Monday of the week before Christmas, which would be Dec. 14 this year.

That’s the day everyone decides to mail letters and packages, Norton said, and so the following Monday is the busiest delivery day of the year.

The postal service has hired 40 seasonal employees in Kansas to help deliver all of that correspondence, Norton said.

It will also be making Sunday package deliveries – an anomaly for the post office – throughout the holiday season.

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 9:59 PM with the headline "Rise in package deliveries keeping postal workers busier than ever (+video)."