DALLAS, Texas — Anxiety is setting in for many North Texans as thousands of Christmas packages still haven’t arrived at their destinations.
UPS, FedEx, and the U.S. Postal Service are all overwhelmed this holiday season.
However, industry tracking firm ShipMatrix reports that the Postal Service is struggling the most.
Online shopping is receiving a chunk of the blame. Black Friday shopping skyrocketed at least 21% compared to last year, hauling in $9 billion in sales.
D'Dee Blocker is still waiting on a package that she ordered from Macy's that week.
She told WFAA that it's still in transit, according to the USPS.
"I ordered it on November 30th, and it's still not here," Blocker said. "It's not their fault they don't have enough hands on deck. But it's certainly frustrating."
Not having enough hands on deck is an understatement. Nationwide, 18,750 postal workers are quarantined, either because they got COVID-19 or came into contact with someone who had it.
Those numbers came from the American Postal Workers Union on Tuesday.
The total USPS workforce nationwide sits at around 644,000.
WFAA told Blocker that, as she mentioned that her husband was also waiting on a package that was intended to be one of her Christmas presents.
"He told me that, and I said, 'Oh well,' " Blocker said with a laugh. "There's just nothing you can do. But if these are our biggest worries, then it's still a good day."
According to the Washington Post, the USPS is receiving "...as many as 6 million packages a day since FedEx and UPS enacted restrictions on large-volume retail shippers in early December."
Late Tuesday, a spokesperson for the American Postal Workers Union told WFAA that the agency set a record last Tuesday by delivering 43 million packages in one day.
While all delivery services are asking for patience, Blocker did tell WFAA that she did have some success with the Postal Service this week.
Last week she mailed a care package to friends in Boston that contained some pecan coffee and smoked sausages.
"They really fell in love with our food here, so I knew I had to send them a Texas care package," Blocker said.
The tiny cooler was supposed to be delivered within two days, but it did arrive unharmed within the last 24 hours of this article being written.
"The sausages were still chilled, so into the fridge they went," Blocker said with a laugh.
But many may not have a success story like that to tell this Christmas.