Embargoes and Redirections at U.S. Postal Service Processing Facilities

Each year, increased mail volume during peak mailing season — November through January — significantly strains the Postal Service’s processing and distribution network. During the peak mailing season of FY 2021, increased package volume and reduced employee availability resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic added even more strain on the distribution network and led to temporary embargoes of up to 17 days for certain mail types at nine mail processing facilities: the Birmingham, AL Annex; West Valley, AZ processing and distribution center (P&DC); Baltimore, MD P&DC; Detroit, MI network distribution center (NDC); New Jersey (City), NJ NDC; Northwest Rochester, NY NDC; Cleveland, OH P&DC; Springdale, OH Annex; and Philadelphia, PA NDC. Our objective was to evaluate the operational impacts experienced by the Postal Service before and after the embargoes and redirections at mail processing facilities during the fiscal year (FY) 2021 peak mailing season.