Postal workers in Ottawa and Streator are gearing up for their busy season.

Kevin Christiansen, officer-in-charge for the Ottawa post office, said on a normal day the Ottawa facility handles about 25,000 pieces of automated mail and about 5,000 pieces that cannot be run through the machines. They also see about 15,000 to 20,000 flat pieces like periodicals, magazines and legal-sized letter envelopes.

But during the holiday season for the USPS, Dec. 14 will probably be their "Big Monday" mailing day, and those numbers will understandably increase, Christiansen said. The automated pieces will increase to about 35,000, and the pieces that cannot go through the machines may increase to about 12,000. The flats probably will stay about the same but the parcels will increase by the thousands.

What likely won't increase are the number of employees or trucks to handle the holiday mail, he added.

Christiansen said a few people will try to mail unusual items.

"We get people who want to mail alcohol to Uncle So and So and I have to say, 'No, sorry, we can't do that,'" he grins.

He said people want to mail other unusual things, such as loaves of bread or homemade treats in a towel, and want them wrapped in a specific way.

"It gets interesting," he said.

Streator Postmaster Mary Ford remembers someone wanting to mail tomatoes but not specifically as a Christmas gift.

"I told them it would be difficult to package them up and if they didn't mind, they might arrive as tomato sauce," she laughed.

Ford and Christiansen emphasized some economical ways to mail packages.

The USPS offers free priority boxes in different sizes to take home and return to the post office for mailing for a flat rate no matter what weight it is. "If it fits, it ships," as the advertisements states.



"It will make mailing so much easier if people can bring in their package all ready to go. We can't pack them up for them," said Ford.

Christiansen said addresses can be difficult to read, if for instance the address is written in red ink on a red envelope.

"You'd be surprised at how often that happens and the letter or card can't go through the machine and has to be hand cancelled. It makes it much harder," he said.

Other tips to avoid holiday glitches are to print the names and addresses clearly, don't forget the correct zip codes and don't wrap packages in flimsy wrapping paper, string, masking tape or cellophane tape, Christiansen said.

Because Dec.14 will likely be the "big push day," people will rush to get their packages mailed and Ford said if packages are ready to go and wrapped properly, it will mean less time waiting in lines and less chaos for everyone. Dec. 21 may be the final "rush" day.

She added Christmas wrapping supplies like boxes, bubble wrap etc. with holiday designs on them and other wrapping supplies made just for Christmas can be purchased.



"The person won't need to wrap a gift with Christmas paper, it will already be done," she said.

The U.S. Postal Service's Web site at www.usps.com includes charts for the holiday delivery cutoff dates.

Military deadlines are anywhere from Nov. 13 to Dec. 18 depending on the type of mail service.

Christiansen noted the delivery dates are not 100 percent guaranteed so, "mail early, the sooner the better."

Another hint offered by Ford is the USPS Web site allows browsers to look up a zip code and also get the correct addressing format such as whether an address should be a street, avenue or road and other important ways an address should be written.

UPS Inc., the world's largest shipping carrier, expects to deliver roughly 22 million small packages on its busiest day this year — projected to be Dec. 21.

UPS, based in Atlanta, said that's about a 40-percent increase over normal daily delivery volumes.

For the entire holiday season, stretching from Thanksgiving to Christmas, UPS expects to deliver roughly 400 million packages around the world, up slightly compared to the 2008 holiday season.

Peak projections from UPS and rival FedEx Corp. are closely watched because they are an indicator of how well the economy, especially in the retail sector, is doing.

FedEx, based in Memphis, Tenn., said last week that it expects to ship 13 million packages on Dec. 14, which it expects to be its busiest day this year. That would be up more than 8 percent from about 12 million packages shipped on its peak day last year.

FedEx numbers include a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service, in which FedEx picks up or accepts shipments and delivers the packages to a post office for final delivery by a postal carrier.

The Associated Press contributed to this story






The holiday shipping cutoff dates are as follows:
 

• Military mail destined for Iraq and Afghanistan, Dec. 4
• First-Class mail, Dec. 21
• Priority mail, Dec. 21
• Express mail, Dec. 23