U.S. Parcel Volume Keeps Climbing
According to Pitney Bowes' annual Parcel Shipping Index, U.S. parcel volume grew 3.3% in 2025 to reach 23.1 billion shipments, with carriers focusing more on profitability than on raw volume. That followed 2024, when volume rose 3.4% from 21.65 billion to 22.37 billion.
The long-term outlook points the same way. Pitney Bowes projects that volume will keep growing to around 31 billion parcels by 2031.
For an office mailroom, steady single-digit growth sounds manageable. The challenge is that it compounds year after year, while mailroom space, staffing, and processes often stay exactly the same.
Parcel growth does not arrive as a single wave. It arrives as a slightly bigger pile every single year.
More Carriers Means More Complexity
The mix of carriers is changing as fast as the volume. In the 2025 index, Amazon Logistics overtook the traditional Big 3 to become the largest U.S. parcel carrier by volume, delivering 6.9 billion parcels. Smaller regional carriers and last-mile startups grew even faster, increasing their volume by 127%, largely thanks to rising shipments from Shein and Temu. Their share of carrier revenue also more than doubled, from 3.4% in 2024 to 7.2% in 2025.
In practical terms, mailroom staff are dealing with a wider range of label formats, delivery windows, and drivers. A system that worked when two or three familiar carriers arrived at predictable times struggles when deliveries come from many different providers throughout the day.
Office Attendance Has Recovered, But Not Evenly
Office attendance has been rising steadily. Kastle Systems, which tracks badge swipes in buildings across 10 major U.S. cities, recorded its post-pandemic weekly high in the week of December 8, 2025, when attendance reached 56.3% of pre-pandemic levels. The pattern within the week matters just as much. Attendance is concentrated midweek, and in fall 2026 Kastle reported a national single-day record of 66.8% on a Tuesday, while Fridays remain far quieter. In early September 2026, for example, Tuesday occupancy hit 62.6% compared with 34.0% the previous Friday.
Hybrid schedules remain the norm for many workers. Gallup data from May 2026 shows that 52% of remote-capable U.S. employees worked hybrid, 26% worked exclusively remotely, and 22% worked on-site.
A hybrid workforce does not mean fewer parcels. It means parcels arrive on days when their owners aren't there to collect them.
What These Numbers Mean for Mailrooms
| Statistic | What It Means for the Mailroom |
|---|---|
| U.S. parcel volume rising about 3% a year | Steady, compounding pressure on space and staff time |
| Amazon now the largest carrier by volume | Frequent deliveries from a single dominant source |
| Smaller carriers growing volume 127% | More varied labels, drivers, and delivery times |
| Office attendance peaking midweek | Pickup demand concentrated on a few busy days |
| Most remote-capable employees working hybrid | Parcels waiting longer for recipients to come in |
The Metrics Mailrooms Should Be Tracking
National statistics only tell part of the story. The most useful numbers are the ones a mailroom collects about itself. Key metrics include:
- Daily and weekly inbound volume, to spot growth before storage runs out.
- Dwell time, meaning how long items sit before collection, which reveals the real impact of hybrid schedules.
- Pickup rate by day of the week, to plan staffing around peak collection days.
- Carrier mix, to understand when deliveries arrive and from whom.
- The split between business and personal parcels, which helps shape delivery policies, especially during the holiday season.
Without a digital log, most of these numbers are invisible. With one, they are generated automatically every time an item is scanned in and signed out.
Reducing Dwell Time in a Hybrid Office
Dwell time is where hybrid work hits hardest. If an employee comes in twice a week, a parcel delivered on a Wednesday might wait until the following Tuesday. Multiply that across hundreds of employees and storage fills quickly.
Instant notifications help recipients plan to collect on their next office day. Automated reminders reduce forgotten items. Some organizations also use lockers or forward parcels to employees' homes when they're out for an extended period.
Planning for Peaks
Office attendance data and parcel trends both point to uneven demand. Volume builds steadily through the week, then pickups spike on the busiest office days. Seasonal peaks, especially around November and December, add another layer.
Mailrooms that track their own patterns can schedule staff for busy pickup days, set clear policies for personal deliveries during holiday periods, and plan storage before it becomes a problem.
Turning Data Into Better Decisions
The national figures tell a consistent story: more parcels, more carriers, and a workforce that is in the office some of the time rather than all of the time. None of these trends is likely to reverse soon.
For office mailrooms, the response is less about working harder and more about seeing clearly. When every item is logged, every pickup is recorded, and the data is easy to review, managers can spot where pressure is building and adjust before it becomes an overflow. The numbers are already there. The question is whether the mailroom is measuring them.
Understanding business statistics and tracking the right operational metrics transforms raw parcel data into decisions that keep mailrooms running smoothly. Combined with remote work statistics, the picture becomes even clearer for planning staffing and storage around hybrid attendance patterns.