Inside Santa’s Real Workshop: USPS Turns to Robots for the Holiday Rush

Nearly around the clock, the U.S. Postal Service’s Boise Regional Processing and Distribution Center is running at full speed as workers and machines power through the busiest shipping season of the year.

The facility is now processing more than 220,000 packages per day, according to USPS communications specialist Janella Herron — and it’s getting a major boost from a new fleet of robotic assistants.

“We are Santa's B team when it comes to making sure all those special items get to where they need to go,” Herron said.

Installed in September, four robotic arms are now helping streamline the holiday surge, identifying packages, positioning them correctly for barcode scanning, and moving them seamlessly onto the sorting line.

Before automation, this stage of the process required six workers. Now, two human employees oversee the operation while four robotic arms handle the bulk of the mechanical work. The upgraded system sorts about 6,000 packages per hour, up from 4,500 previously — though USPS notes that higher holiday volumes may also drive the increase.

“It just helps with that increased efficiency that gives us the ability to get our customers' packages to them more timely,” Herron said, noting that USPS currently averages 2.8 days from facility intake to final delivery nationwide.

The automation allows USPS to redeploy staff to tasks that require human judgment or customer support, strengthening operations during the peak rush.

Holiday preparation, Herron added, is a year-round undertaking.

“Starting in January, we start looking for that holiday season the next year,” she said. To support the surge, USPS hired 14,000 seasonal employees across the country.

“We are very holiday-ready,” she said. “We're very prepared for what’s coming down the pipeline.”