BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — During the holiday season, the U.S. Postal Service expects to handle 800 million packages across the country. Here in Buffalo, 2.5 million of those packages will come through the Processing and Distribution Center.
"This is our Super Bowl," Plant Manager Rhonda Benton said. It takes 500 plus employees right here in Buffalo to send millions of packages through USPS.
"Western New York district, which encompasses zip codes that start with 140 to 149, we're projected to do nine million packages over this holiday season," Benton said.
Inside the Buffalo P&DC, you may spot one of Santa's helpers. Erika Filipski is a fourth generation USPS employee ready to tackle her first holiday season with the company.
"It's extremely, extremely busy, but once you get a bit of a flow going then it's actually really nice," Filipski said.
New this year to the Buffalo plant, the Small Parcel Sorting System (SPSS). It handles about 6,000 packages an hour, 50,000 on an average day. During the holidays, that number increases to 80,000 a day.
"This has totally changed the footprint of our facility," Benton said.
Important shipping deadlines to keep in mind if you want packages delivered by Christmas:
12/20: First Class Mail
12/21: Priority Mail
12/23: Priority Express Mail
