Post Office Workers Brave Cold To Deliver Christmas Gifts On Time
(CBS) -- It's Christmas Eve, and we all know that means Santa Claus is hard at work delivering gifts around the world, but he's not the only one.
CBS 2's Mai Martinez has a look at some of the workers making Christmas deliveries today.
With the Christmas clock winding down, there's no time to spare and U.S. Postal Service workers are working hard to make sure letters and packages arrive at their Christmas destinations in time for Christmas.
"That's the most important thing seeing the joy and the satisfaction of our customers," said letter carrier James Hundley.
And Postal workers aren't the only ones busy making those last minute Christmas deliveries. A spokesperson for FedEx says by the end of today, their workers will have delivered about 275 million packages this holiday season.
UPS workers are also in the mix, delivering an estimated 132-million packages in the past week alone.
But the U.S. postal service has them both beat.
"We estimated that we would be handling about 420 million packages this holiday season," said Mark Reynolds of the U.S. Postal Service.
And that takes some planning.
"Our line of travel has already been set up and we prepare the mail in station and we know exactly where we are going," said Hundley.
Hundley says it's the busiest time of year for him and his colleagues, but it's also one of the most rewarding.
"I look forward to it each and every day. Just to see the smile and thank you," said Hundley.
When asked who he thinks is more efficient at delivering gifts Santa or the Post Office, Hundley said, "We are because we make sure it gets there."
And the work's not done for postal workers Christmas Eve. Some will be delivering packages on Christmas but those are only for customers who pre-paid for Christmas delivery using priority express mail.
