Today (Monday) is the deadline to send first-class mail you want to arrive by Christmas anywhere in the U.S. Regional post office spokesman Rich Watkins says few shopping OR shipping days remain and today’s the peak day of the year. The biggest mail-processing facility in the state of Iowa, the central post office in Des Moines, will have its busiest day today, he says.
On a normal day that plant handles about 400-thousand pieces of mail but today it’ll gear up to about 2 and-a-half times its normal volume. With Christmas Eve this coming Saturday, Watkins says for the Postal Service it’s coming down to the wire.
Overseas mailing deadlines have already passed, and if you’re sending something important the procrastinator will want to use Priority Mail early in the week. If you wait much longer he recommends the Post Office’s Express Mail Service.
There’s also an alternative to waiting at that overcrowded Post Office or courtesy counter. “Rather than waiting in Line, go on-line, to USPS-dot-com,” Watkins recommends. With a computer linked to the Internet, he says you can print shipping labels, pay for postage, order greeting cards, get order confirmation, and take advantage of all kinds of services from the comfort of your home or office.