Many thousands of Iowans spent the wintery weekend signing and addressing Christmas cards and they’re all stamped and hitting mailboxes today. It makes this one of the busiest days of the year for the U.S. Postal Service. Spokesman Roger Humphries says for a prompt delivery, it’s critical to have the correct address, especially if it’s a package.
“One of the other things we suggest is to put a label inside your package,” Humphries says. “That way if the package comes open and we are unable to determine where the item should go, you would have a label inside and we can use that.” Humphries says if you’re shipping a toy or other electronic item that includes batteries, it’s a good idea to remove the batteries before shipping the package.
“Don’t put the batteries in,” he says. “If you play with it before hand, make sure you take those batteries out and keep those separate because if they go off while they’re en-route, we will be pulling those off to the side and they will be delayed.” Humphries says lines will be long at post offices statewide. He says there is an easier way to ship your packages to save you some time using the A-P-O, or automated post office.
“You can actually mail packages and buy stamps using a debit or credit card and those are 24-hours a day,” Humphries says. “You can go in the lobby, mail that package and get it on its way even though the post office is closed.” He says if you need to go to the post office, try to go during off-peak times.
