Diane Malone of Columbus arrived at the U.S. Post Office at about 3 p.m. Friday, easily moving through a short line to mail 60 Christmas cards, along with a gift for an old middle school friend in Aberdeen.
She was in and out in a matter of minutes, but this won’t be her last visit to the post office.
“Oh, no,” she said. “Now, I’ve got to send out packages for my family. I’ll be back.”
Reba Jenkins isn’t surprised to hear that.
The period between Black Friday and Christmas Eve is the busiest time of year for the U.S. Postal Service and private shipping companies like Fed Ex and UPS.
“This week already, we’ve handled almost 5,000 parcels, and the day isn’t over yet,” said Jenkins, who is the Columbus postmaster. “Mondays during this time of the year are probably the busiest days of the year, and we have two Mondays left before Christmas. It will be non-stop for us.”
Fed Ex estimates its volume will double over that roughly four-week period and projects deliveries this year will increase 10 percent. UPS, meanwhile, expects its volume to jump by 16 percent.
Nationwide, the USPS expects to deliver more than a half-billion packages, which will be a 10.5 percent increase over last year.
At the main post office on Bluecutt Road, the increased demand this time of year means a very early start to the day.
“Our workers get here at 5 in the morning, but this time of the year, they come in at 2 a.m. just to handle the drop-offs from Amazon, UPS and FedEx so that we are ready to start processing our regular mail service at 5,” Jenkins said. “This time of the year means some long, long days for us.”
She said a number of employees have also retired in the past year, so there are some new people going through the holiday shipping process for the first time.
“It can be overwhelming,” Jenkins said.
With two weeks left before Christmas, Jenkins urges residents not to wait until the last minute to mail their packages.
“The longer you wait, the fewer options you have, and that means it will cost you more to make sure your packages arrive before Christmas,” she said.
To help with the expected rush, Jenkins said the Bluecutt Road office will extend its hours by two additional hours on Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The post office’s regular hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. until noon on Saturdays. The Post Office on Main Street is open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Frances Yarbrough of Columbus doesn’t have to worry about that.
Yarbrough did the last of her Christmas shipping Friday afternoon.
“It’s a Christmas present for my son in Williamsburg, Virginia,” she said. “The rest of my family is close by, so I won’t have to come back to mail anything else. I’m happy about that.”
So is Jenkins.
“It’s non-stop for us the next two weeks,” she said.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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