The Postal Service is expecting another big holiday season — and so are its rivals.
USPS expects to deliver 15.5 billion mailpieces, including 600 million packages, between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, according to projections released this week.
Package volumes will be up 10.5 percent compared to last year’s record-setting performance.
UPS predicts it will deliver more than 630 million packages during the holidays, up about 10 percent, while FedEx anticipates 317 million shipments, a 12.4 percent increase.
Each shipper is expecting deliveries to peak on different days.
FedEx expects to double its average daily volume during the first two Mondays in December (Dec. 7 and Dec. 14), while the Postal Service predicts its busiest delivery day will be Monday, Dec. 21, when it expects to deliver more than 30 million packages.
UPS plans to deliver 36 million packages Tuesday, Dec. 22, its busiest day.
The shipping surge will be driven by major increases in online shopping: The National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend as much as $105 billion in online holiday purchases, up 6-8 percent from last year.