Postal Service Expects To Deliver 15 Billion Pieces Of Mail Over Holidays

The deeply troubled United States Postal Service will do brisk business over the holidays, despite companies which including Fedex (NYSE: FDX) and UPS (NYSE: UPS) constantly stealing its customers.

The USPS released data as a forecast of activity as the holiday shopping season starts:

Holiday mailing deadlines are fast approaching, and the United States Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 850 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day and more than 15 billion total pieces of mail this holiday season. Whether customers shop on Black Friday, Cyber Monday or both, they can relax knowing packages will arrive at their destination on time for the holidays.

The activity will reach a high in mid-December:

With the increase in early and online gift shopping, the Postal Service no longer has a “busiest day” for holiday shipping. Customer mailing and shipping traffic is expected to increase beginning Dec. 11, with the week of Dec. 18 to 24 predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week, when nearly 3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail, including greeting cards, will be processed and delivered. The Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 200 million packages per week from Dec. 11 to 24.

The surge in mail activity does not get the USPS off the financial hook. It still loses money most quarters and has not come up with a way to reverse that. In its most recent fiscal year, which ended September 30, revenue was $69.6 billion, down by $1.8 billion compared with the previous year. Net loss was $2.7 billion, compared with $2.8 billion in the year prior.

The USPS has a plan to pull in customers:

The Postal Service’s 2017 holiday campaign features direct mail, TV, radio, print, digital and social media promotions highlighting the organization’s proud tradition of delivering cheer and value to consumers and businesses.

Based on recent history, it will probably not arrest the slide in sales.