• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

2

Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it

3

The river that supplies 40 million Americans is down to 23% — and about to make a $25 million bet on one fish

1

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

2

Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it

3

The river that supplies 40 million Americans is down to 23% — and about to make a $25 million bet on one fish
Tech

Part of Postal Service’s Site Buckles Under ‘Unprecedented’ Demand

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
December 22, 2015, 2:33 PM ET
The Expected Budget Deficit Of US Postal Service Grows To 7 Billion For '09
SAN FRANCISCO - JULY 30: US Postal Service letter carrier Anthony Ow sorts through mail in the back of his delivery truck July 30, 2009 in San Francisco, California. The US Postal Service is expecting their budget deficit to reach $7 billion, up from earlier projections of $6 billion. The Postal Service is seeking permission from Congress to go to a 5 day delivery week to make up some of the deficit. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Photograph by Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

Part of the U.S Postal Service’s website slowed to a crawl on Tuesday because of overloading by people looking to track their holiday packages.

“Due to unprecedented heavy volume, there were delays in providing tracking results for a very brief period late this morning,” USPS spokesman Roy Betts told Fortune. “We continue to closely monitor the site.”

Betts confirmed that USPS tracking is now “working.”

Late Tuesday morning, several Twitter (TWTR) users tweeted that they were unable to track packages through the USPS.com site. Annoyed that they couldn’t find their packages, the tweeters quickly turned to hashtags that lambasted the USPS, including “#USPSfail,” “#holidayfail,” and “#USPSdonttrustthem.”

Despite the displeasure, the issue was short-lived and the complaints petered out soon after. It’s unclear how widespread the issue was, but it did not impact tracking accuracy, and data was not lost.

SIGN UP: Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology.

The issue couldn’t have come at a worse time for USPS, which said yesterday that Monday would be its busiest day of the year as employees delivered more than 30 million packages. Postmaster General Megan Brennan said in a statement that the day’s package volume was up 15% compared to last year. In total, the USPS will deliver 15 billion packages and pieces of mail this year.

WATCH: For more on holiday shopping, check out the following Fortune video:

The problem came Tuesday as anxious shoppers flocked to USPS to delivery last-minute Christmas gifts. With just three days to go before the holiday, they apparently overloaded the tracking page to see where their packages were and determine when they’d be delivered. For a short while, they couldn’t get the answers they wanted.

Update – 7:20 pm, Dec. 22: This story and its headline were updated to clarify that only part of the Postal Service’s website was impacted.

 

 

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce
SuccessJobs
As AI slashes white-collar jobs, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says there’s one department still hiring: sales
By Emma BurleighMay 28, 2026
22 minutes ago
Costco CEO says AI is not stealing workers’ jobs—it’s ‘elevating’ them
Successthe future of work
Costco CEO says AI is not stealing workers’ jobs—it’s ‘elevating’ them
By Preston ForeMay 28, 2026
29 minutes ago
Boos, AI-washing, and ‘low-value human capital’: The psychological traps CEOs are falling into when they botch their AI messaging
C-Suitechief executive officer (CEO)
Boos, AI-washing, and ‘low-value human capital’: The psychological traps CEOs are falling into when they botch their AI messaging
By Claire ZillmanMay 28, 2026
36 minutes ago
Jan van Hövell built the world's largest sports club where membership is just a Euro a month.
SuccessSports
He left big law, became a DJ to pay his bills, and built sports clubs inside refugee camps. Now he wants more members than Bayern Munich
By Catherina GioinoMay 28, 2026
2 hours ago
g
CommentaryTraining
We gave our 5,000 employees a week to do nothing but learn AI. We learned the biggest blockers are human ones 
By Rob GiglioMay 28, 2026
4 hours ago
robot
CryptoRobots
This professor asked his robot clone about the future: ‘I think robots will coexist with people. Robots are the mirror of human beings’
By Yuri Kageyama and The Associated PressMay 28, 2026
5 hours ago

Most Popular

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
Success
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
By Preston ForeMay 21, 2026
7 days ago
Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it
Banking
Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it
By Nick LichtenbergMay 27, 2026
1 day ago
The river that supplies 40 million Americans is down to 23% — and about to make a $25 million bet on one fish
Environment
The river that supplies 40 million Americans is down to 23% — and about to make a $25 million bet on one fish
By Dorany Pineda, Brittany Peterson and The Associated PressMay 27, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of May 27, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 27, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 27, 2026
1 day ago
Techlash grows in education: 'My daughter went to middle school and was sent home with a screen addiction in her backpack'
North America
Techlash grows in education: 'My daughter went to middle school and was sent home with a screen addiction in her backpack'
By Jocelyn Gecker and The Associated PressMay 26, 2026
2 days ago
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits he criticizes everything his 42,000-plus employees show him: ‘You can’t go a day without some criticism’
Success
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits he criticizes everything his 42,000-plus employees show him: ‘You can’t go a day without some criticism’
By Preston ForeMay 26, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.