Friday, December 12, 2008

Anticipating the mail rush

Monday expected to be busiest for postal service

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By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

Expect long lines at the post office on Monday, expected to be the busiest day of the year for the U.S. Postal Service.

About 960 million cards and letters will be processed on Monday, Dec. 15, nearly double the average daily volume, a press release from the postal service stated. That will result in a very busy delivery day on Wednesday.

The postal service expects to deliver 19 billion letters, packages and cards between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

To help customers with their last-minute shopping, the postal service stated that priority mail sent by Dec. 20 will arrive before Christmas. It is also providing a money-back guarantee that express mail sent by Dec. 23 will be delivered by Christmas Day.

Ketchum Postmaster John McDonald encouraged customers to send their Christmas mail by Friday, Dec. 19, to avoid higher fees for faster shipping.

Because of budget cuts, none of the post offices in the Wood River Valley will open on Sundays as they have during past holiday seasons.

The Ketchum post office will be open this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the following Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. In Hailey, the post office will be open on both Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Sun Valley will have its mail window open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on those days.

The postal service is also promoting its online services, such as printing postage and shipping labels at home. For more information, visit www.usps.com.

McDonald said that the Web site can also be used to track packages from home.