New sorting machine installed at Traverse City USPS distribution facility

GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- A new, high-tech mail sorting machine in Traverse City is expected to speed up mail delivery across the state.

The new parcel sorting machine is up and operating just a few days after installation.

"Before this machine arrived, we were sorting all of those parcels manually,” Traverse City USPS Distribution Plant Manager Robert Hutchinson said. “People were putting a package in a bag one piece at a time."

That’s a lot of work for this facility that sees roughly 35,000 packages a day.

Now, the machine can sort parcels 12 times faster.

"This is what Traverse City is all about,” Hutchinson said. “We are a growing community, and this is growth for the postal service as well."

138 postal service locations across the United States will get these same machines within the next few years.

“We are modernizing our operations because we know package shipping and delivery is increasing all across the United States,” USPS Strategic Communications Specialist Elizabeth Najduch said.

Last year, the packaging volume nationwide was up 48%.

The USPS delivered 1.1 billion packages last holiday season alone.

It’s predicting those numbers will rise even more this year.

"We want to make sure that our customers know that this peak season, this holiday season, we are ready," Najduch said. "This holiday, we will have their packages to them timely.”

The machines are part of a $40 billion USPS investment to improve people, technology and equipment.