Have you experienced problems with delivery delays this month? You are not the only one. This December, thousands of people, both customers and companies, are facing late shipments, delays, and other postal service problems. Is Christmas under threat now?

What’s Happening?

The post is not coming to town these days. Packages are massively not delivered on time: it takes one or two weeks more than usual. Most storage facilities are filled floor-to-ceiling, and shipping companies employ holiday workers—and it’s still not enough. Postal problems are a country-wide phenomenon, hitting state and private express carriers alike.

Why Is My Package Delayed?

There are many suspects for Christmas delivery delays: pandemic, e-commerce, and Christmas. This holiday season has registered a record amount of packages ordered online. The upsurge in online shopping exhausted the storage and delivery capacities of many carriers. Moreover, there might not be enough staff to operate through the amount of mail. The staff shortage is caused partially by COVID-19: U.S. Postal Service registered a rise in the number of detected cases among their workers. 

Another reason behind the delays is cost-cutting in postal operational systems. It triggered postal delays this summer, and the current delivery disaster is a repercussion of these actions. Although the increase in packages during the Christmas period was expected, postal services and carriers failed to estimate their capacities.

Can BooksRun do Something about Delivery Delays?

We are utterly sorry that packages with your textbooks are delayed—as well as millions of other shipments. Our postal partners do their best to ship the items on time, but shipping management is beyond our control. The postal staff works on the verge of exhaustion this season, but when failures are systemic and operational, there is no easy and fast solution.

What Can I Do?

• There is only one thing left—waiting. This year has been made for practicing the virtue of patience. If you’re bored while waiting for your package to come, check out our ideas for how to pass the waiting time with fun and benefit. 
• Messaging Support regarding delayed packages might not be productive since our company cannot influence shipping logistics.
• Small businesses that rely on delivery are getting suffocated—maybe you can find a way to support them.
• If Christmas presents for your family and friends have not made it on time, you can get a gift card or a certificate instead. It is frustrating not to be able to give something you’ve wanted to, but you might find a creative way out of this situation.
• We hope that delivery problems won’t cause our friends life-threatening issues (as it can sadly be the case with a delay in delivering medication).  

All in all, it is annoying and troublesome that things you’ve relied on are not coming on time. We truly hope that it won’t ruin your holiday mood!