U.S. Postal Service's Philadelphia plant braces for holiday surge

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The U.S. Postal Service processing and distribution center in Southwest Philadelphia is preparing for what could be its busiest holiday season yet, with officials expecting a 40% increase in letters and packages compared to last year.

"Next week is going to be showtime," executive plant manager Alvin Simuel said.

The Lindbergh Plant, nearly 1 million square feet in size, is entering its 20th year handling holiday mail for the region, and this year also marks the Postal Service's 250th anniversary.

The plant already moves massive volumes, processing "roughly 6.5 million pieces of letters a day," Simuel said.

Simuel said the facility is only getting started.

"This right here is a warm-up," he said. "Next week we expect to see even a bigger optic in mail volume, on the letters, yes, but the packages are going to be through the roof."

For the more than 1,250 employees who work around the clock, the holiday rush is the moment they prepare for.

"This time of year, right now, is what we practice for all year. This is our time when we show up, we know what's on the line, it's to get those packages, those letters, those flats home to customers," Simuel said.

He added that while technology keeps evolving, "as great as the machines are, there's no greater asset than our employees."

Among those employees is mail handler Andrew Little, who is now in his 35th year on the job.

"I started out when I was 26 years old. I'm of age now, and I see all the blessings that I have received from working for the United States Postal Service," he said. "I've seen things evolve and grow, and still we get the mail out."

Little described the holiday pace as "organized chaos," with "trucks backing in, everything's moving, things are going left, right."

But he said the team takes pride in the work. "More of an uptick, but this is what we do. It's repetition for us. The volume just gets a little bit bigger, but this is what we do."

"We are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, including holidays, so on Christmas Day we'll be here working," Simuel said. "They really make this thing tick."

The Postal Service says customers still have time to get gifts delivered before Christmas.

The deadlines are Dec. 17 for Ground Advantage packages, Dec. 18 for Priority Mail, and Dec. 20 for Priority Express Mail.