USPS Distribution Facility Prepares For Busiest Week Of The Year

DENVER (CBS4) - The United States Postal Service is gearing up for the holiday season as the busiest mailing week of the year approaches.

At the Network Distribution Facility in Denver, processing for 11 states occurs and about 325,000 parcels of mail pass through each day. Five miles of belts wind through the facility, where 612 employees work to sort and manage mail.

Monday, Dec. 14 marks the busiest mailing day, and is the recommended deadline for getting Christmas parcels delivered on time.

The distribution center will handle millions of parcels this holiday season. Monday, Dec. 21 is the busiest delivery day, with 30 million packages delivered on that one day alone.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, the USPS will deliver 15.5 billion parcels of mail. That breaks down to an average of 536 million pieces daily during the holidays, 22 million an hour.

USPS suggests the following mailing deadlines:

Military

Dec. 10 -- Priority and First-Class Mail APO/FPO *

Dec. 17  Priority Express Mail APO/FPO *

International

Dec. 8  Cards and Letters

Dec. 11  Priority Mail International

Dec. 15  Priority Mail Express

Dec. 21  Global Express Guaranteed

Domestic

Dec. 15  -- Standard Mail Packages

Dec. 19   Cards and Letters.

Dec. 21   Priority Mail Packages

Dec. 23   Priority Express Mail.