U.S. Postal Service customers serviced by agency facilities in Indianapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, may experience shipping delays over the next few weeks, according to agency notices published this week.
The risk of delays is due to the Postal Service’s installation of new package sorting equipment, which will help the agency better handle the expected volume surge during the peak holiday shipping season, per the notices.
At the Indianapolis regional processing and distribution center, the Postal Service is installing machines that can handle large, oversized packages that were historically processed manually. Drawing heavier and higher-value packages into the USPS network has been a priority for Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner.
The improvements in Indianapolis will be finalized over the next two to three weeks, the agency said in a Sept. 21 message.
“Routing changes are also occurring to improve operational flows and cycle times into and out of the region,” per the message. “Hiring is progressing to add more team members to support these changes.”
Meanwhile, the Louisville processing and distribution center has been battling delays throughout September as the facility picks up slack for an Evansville, Indiana, processing site undergoing equipment upgrades. To help keep packages flowing, the Postal Service said in a Sept. 22 notice that some volume from affected facilities will be diverted to its Nashville, Tennessee, processing and distribution center in addition to an annex facility in Springdale, Ohio.
“As these installations are completed and operations stabilize, processing flows and transit times in and out of the region will improve,” the Postal Service said.
The Louisville site is in the agency’s central processing region. In 2025, the Postal Service said the newly established region would process 177 million mailpieces daily and cover 100 facilities.
The Postal Service has made numerous package processing equipment upgrades throughout the U.S. in 2026 as it pushes to modernize its existing infrastructure while temporarily diverting volume to alternate sites during installations. This month, the agency is shifting package flows from some facilities in cities such as Los Angeles, New Orleans and Tampa, Florida, to nearby sites for this purpose.
“New and upgraded equipment will increase package sorting throughputs, automation capabilities for larger packages, increase sortation accuracy, and improve machine reliability,” according to a Sept. 3 USPS notice.
