It’s just started to feel like winter, but there’s barely a week left to send a package to a friend or loved one serving in Iraq. John Burianek at the Cedar Rapids post office says that military mail had better be wrapped and sent within a few days.The recommended dates for parcel post is mid-November, the 13th to APO’s and FPO’s, and then for first-class you have till early December. Burianek says there are a long list of options for mailers, depending on the destination and your budget. Parcel post means packages, the kind of mailing you’d send for Christmas, and he says depending on the destination your options include SAM, Parcel airlift, PAL…and priority airmail. Burianek has another piece of advice.You can select whatever service you like depending on cost, time…and how long you’ve put it off, as he advises everyone to mail early in the season and early in the day, and adds “It costs us to procrastinate.” Burianek says during the Christmas season they have only the usual number of hours in the day to handle a vastly expanded workload. To handle it all, they begin earlier in the day and hope customers will mail early as they add special pickups around the state to get your mail and send it all on its way. Burianek points out there’s no penalty for getting something there early, so he recommends allowing ten days to have plenty of time and extra for bad weather.
