Postal service warns customers to hurry up and ship their Christmas presents

SALT LAKE CITY – If you’re still planning on mailing out Christmas packages, you’re time is quickly running out.  Workers say it’s crunch time for them, and things are just going to get busier, soon.

Over 500 thousand parcels, every night.  That’s the amount of letters and packages that are going through the USPS sorting center in Salt Lake City.  However, the busiest time of year for package deliveries is projected to be December 16^th through the 22^nd.  Officials estimate the USPS will be handling 28 million packages, per day.

Of course, some packages won’t make it to their destination on time, and, sadly, many times that’s our fault.  Customer Service Manager Joseph Zane says seemingly small mistakes on the mailing addresses can lead to big delays.

“Particularly, the zip codes and the apartment number.  That all has to be correct or it takes it out of automation,” Zane says.

Also, many customers are still putting a labeling address and stamps on a gift-wrapped package, even though the USPS says not to.

Zane says, “They still want to make a nice looking green and red package.  [Transport] just rips the packaging.  When we catch them, we try to seal it up with tape.”

Other officials say customers really might not have as much time to ship their packages as they might think.  Marketing Manager Margaret Putnam says there are plenty of things that could slow their service down.

“One of the biggest reasons is storms, across the nation.  It’s harder to get that mail across the nation to that delivery point.  So, we ask [you] to mail early,” she says.

If you want to keep track of what you’re getting, Putnam recommends their Informed Delivery service.  It lets people see pictures of the items they can expect to see in their mailbox in the next few days.

Putnam says, “You know when those letters and Christmas cards are coming, as well as those bills and packages.”