Procrastinators beware
ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT FOR PACKAGES TO ARRIVE ON TIME
BY MALINDA OSBORNE
AND ANDREW WALTERS
SVN REPORTERS
There may be seven shopping days left until Christmas, but precious fewer mailing days for procrastinating gift-shippers.
Millions of last-minute mailers hit post offices across the country Monday to send packages and cards in time for the Christmas holiday.
With Christmas just over a week away, Monday was generally recognized as the busiest day of the year for the U.S. Postal Service.
"Last Monday was when it first started getting real busy," said Pam Bardell, Rock Falls postmaster. "Today is the busiest day of the year."
The usually sleepy Rock Falls post office was jumping throughout the day as lines of people holding stacks of cards and boxes formed at the counter.
"I usually don't wait till this late," said Diane Supancic, of Rock Falls, who was sending packages to family in Chicago and Oklahoma.
Business was brisk in Dixon, as well. In fact, the post office brought in two part-time clerks from offices in Rochelle and Mount Morris to keep up with the holiday demand.
"Due to vacations and sick days, that's why we're grabbing and picking," said Jo Merrill, Creston's postmaster, who was filling in for Dixon's postmaster Monday.
On an average day, the Dixon office delivers 30,000 letters and 8,000 to 10,000 magazines and catalogs, delivery supervisor Stephanie Richardson said.
To help keep the 35 employees spirits' up, there were snacks, particularly sugary ones.
The office is gearing up for Wednesday, which actually is the busiest delivery day for carriers, Richardson said.
"The hardest part is just getting the packages out," Bardell said.
In recent years, the number of packages coming through the office has escalated as more people opt to shop via the Internet, instead of spending time and gas going to malls, she said.
To make delivering all these packages easier on postal workers, city residents need to shovel and salt their sidewalks, while rural residents need to keep the areas around their mailboxes clear.
The office is still reeling from the last two major snow and ice storms, which slowed deliveries considerably, Richardson said.
That's why Merrill said she would have preferred more people sending their cards and packages a little bit earlier. "The longer you wait, the more risk you run of it not getting there in time," she said, noting that most people wait because they don't want the presents to arrive too soon.
People actually can keep shipping their presents up until Thursday, using priority mail, to get there by Christmas; the cost is about $8.95 for a flat-rate box. The cost goes up to at least $16.25 if the gift isn't shipped until Saturday, using express mail to get there Christmas Day.
To help cut somewhat on the shipping costs, Merrill said to use bubble wrap instead of newspaper. Even though it might cost more, it weighs less, which can save on shipping.
Bardell also warns people to be careful about the types of boxes they use - hazardous materials or alcohol cannot be mailed, and boxes that once contained such materials can't be used, nor can old Avon boxes.
Sharon Sztochmal and her sister, Jeanne Schulze, both of Dixon, sent their Christmas cards Monday. Each sent about 35 or 40 cards, which cost $16.50 in postage alone.
"It's a nice way to keep in touch with people. It's almost the one time of year we keep in contact with some people," Sztochmal said, as she sorted her in-town and out-of-town cards.
The two waited until Monday because it wasn't snowing, they said; their packages they shipped last week.
Despite the heavy holiday workload, Bardell enjoys being a postal worker around the holidays, even when it means working Christmas Day. "The workers put on Santa hats and they enjoy it. It is nice, because we aren't bringing bills, we are delivering Christmas packages," she said.
