Busy Day For Last-Minute Mailing
Post offices across Metro Detroit are seeing lots of Santa's elves on what is the busiest mailing day of the year for sending Christmas cards and other holiday cheer.
The Post Office's busiest day is traditionally the Monday before Christmas as people mail packages they prepared over the weekend.
Postal officials expect 800 million pieces of mail to be handled on Monday, 40 percent more than the average daily volume.
WWJ's Ron Dewey spoke with Marilyn Nack of Pleasant Ridge as she carried a bundle of Christmas cards into the Royal Oak Post Office. "These were some I had to write notes in," she said. "I didn't get them out earlier. I did send the rest out already. It's part of Christmas....the holiday season, anyway."
John Livingston of Royal Oak was among those trying to get their Christmas packages in under the wire. "We usually do [avoid last-minute rushes] but we got pushed this year," Livingston said. "It's just one of those things."
Mail volume in December is up 5 percent over the last holiday season, which officials say is an encouraging sign for the economy.
"There's still time to mail greeting cards and ship presents," Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said in a statement. "If customers get their cards and packages to us by Tuesday, Dec. 21, we'll get them delivered by Christmas."
Monday is the recommended deadline for sending greeting cards and holiday letters to arrive in time for Christmas, according to the Postal Service. Tuesday is the recommended deadline for sending packages using Priority Mail. For those last-minute shoppers and procrastinators, the Postal Service recommends Wednesday as the last day to ship packages using Express Mail.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
