BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — The 2022 holiday season was record-breaking for the United States Postal Service, and they expect another busy holiday season this year.

USPS has improved its delivery operations for this year’s gift-giving season by hiring 10,000 additional workers, utilizing 348 new package sorting machines and increasing daily processing capacity to 70 million. They’ve also made ground shipping more simple, reliable and affordable.

USPS will also not add additional surcharges for customers during the holidays.

Postmaster General and CEO Louis Dejoy released the following statement in part quote regarding these new improvements ahead of the season.

“We have been planning early and leveraging investments in our people, infrastructure, transportation, and technology made possible by the Delivering for America Plan. And with no holiday surcharges, we are strongly positioned to be America’s most affordable delivery provider this holiday season.”

The changes will benefit customers like Renee Gessner.

“My husband and I make baklava, and that is a great treat for us to send to our friends up in Ohio, and that’s what we did. I had 22 of them in a bag, and everybody was kind and showed southern hospitality,” Gessner said.

The charges will also benefit Susie Freeman, who plans to ship gifts off to her family this holiday season.

“We have grandkids and kids in Tennessee, Kentucky, and Nevada, and then we have grandkids in Georgia, so those are the main places we ship to,” Freeman said.

To learn more about what USPS is improving this holiday season, click here.