An Unlikely Star of the Holiday-Shipping Season

The U.S. Postal Service out-performed other shippers during the holiday season this year.

The USPS still made timely deliveries with shipping volumes 19 percent higher than the same period last year. Bloomberg reports the agency attributes the success to meticulous planning.

Noticing higher than expected volume in early December, the USPS made adjustments to compensate, including delivering on Sundays in its busiest markets the three weeks prior to Christmas. The USPS also delivered 75,000 packages on Christmas day.

The USPS is known for potentially slower but more consistent shipping. UPS and FedEx use their own fleets of airplanes to ensure urgent deliveries, which caused much of their recent shipping trouble.

Read more from Bloomberg Businessweek.