KSL Investigates: How Postal Service plans on timely, safe delivery amid holiday rush

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Between holiday cards and Christmas gifts, the weeks before Christmas tend to be the busiest of the year for the U.S. Postal Service.

They always hire extra seasonal help to tackle the high demand. That means more folks working side by side in the sometimes small post offices – or even in the same delivery vehicles.

How is the Postal Service going to be doing that safely during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Spokesperson Floyd Wagoner said they have been adapting all year.

“We’ve had this time, now months and months and months, to kind of adapt best practices and deploy those across our operation when it comes to face masks and hand washing and social distancing,” he said.

Those same rules will still apply, but the Postal Service is also renting other buildings so that social distancing can be maintained.

“We take on temporary sites to … store packages, to hold mail and so on,” he said.

Still, you never know when an outbreak could shut down a post office and bottleneck the process, which is why Wagoner said they’ve been trying to drive the message home: You need to mail your items as early as possible this year.

“We’ve ramped up for that,” he said. “We’re ready to handle the volumes that are coming in.”

He said a part of the Postal Service’s success will be based on the customers engaging early.

Those heading to the post office this season will be expected to wear a mask. The service has also expanded its online tools, so anyone wishing to utilize those services from home can do so.