The post office is experiencing the highest volume of mail this week and some locations opened its doors for an extra day to keep deliveries on track.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) is predicting December 17 through the 23 to be the busiest mailing, shipping, and delivery week with nearly three-billion pieces of first class mail.
Some local post offices like the location off Dalidio Drive in San Luis Obispo opened its doors from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Sunday giving last-minute shoppers extra time to mail their gifts.
The USPS is offering additional Sunday service in high-volume locations to deliver more types of packages this busy holiday season.
Postmaster Dana Trevino said Santa’s real helpers work at the post office.
“We have a lot of volunteers volunteer to work. A lot of the mail carries come in to deliver packages to their customers,” said Trevino.
Trevino says this USPS location delivered over 3,000 packages Sunday alone. She says a lot of it is due to online shopping.
“We open up to get the mail into the system so we can have a head start for the coming week and get everything delivered by Christmas,” added Trevino.
One man appreciates his local post office, he just wished it also had additional holiday hours.
“It’s nice the post office is open and I wish Cambria would open their post office on Saturday’s so we didn’t have to come down here,” said Greg Gray, a Cambria resident.
USPS said it’s important to address your mail properly and cushion the contents with bubble wrap or newspaper to ensure a smooth delivery.
“Make sure that the packages don’t contain any barcodes from previous mailings,” added Trevino.
The post office won’t have extra holiday hours December 23rd, but it will be open if you need to pick up a package.
Sunday delivery will exist past the holiday season, but only for certain types of mail and packages.
The deadline to send gifts is approaching. December 18th is the last day for military mail. December 20th is the last day to send first class and priority mail and packages. December 22nd is the last day for priority mail express.
Check your local post office to see when they will be open on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
