KAILUA-KONA — It’s not all Santa.
KAILUA-KONA — It’s not all Santa.
The United States Postal Service plays a part in shipping gifts and Christmas cards, in fact, they’re expecting to move 16.1 billion letters and packages for Americans from Thanksgiving to Christmas — an increase of 10 percent over last year.
But with Dec. 25 around the corner, people should know the deadline is fast approaching if they want their gifts to reach their destinations by Christmas Day.
One deadline is today.
“The big day is (today) — it is the suggested mailing date for First Class and Priority mail and packages from Hawaii to the mainland,” wrote Duke Gonzales, corporate communication specialist for the USPS’ Hawaii operations.
Monday, meanwhile, is the deadline for priority express mail.
What’s the difference?
A five-pound box sent today to Los Angeles, for example, would cost $21.55. If you wait until Monday, using priority express, that same package would cost $57.55.
The parking lot at the Kailua-Kona Post Office was filled Thursday with a constant interweaving of cars and trucks as people rushed to get their mail sent.
The line did shrink and grow by extreme rates, at times extending out the exterior doors before shrinking to four or five people.
The Fazio family was preparing to wrap up their gifts before dropping them in the mail. James bought boxes from the clerks, while Katherine kept their son, Kilian, entertained and watched the gifts.
“We’re getting it all ready,” Katherine Fazio said of preparing the 13 items they purchased on a visit to Bali they planned to ship to loved ones in California.
They do this every year, she said, and have learned the best way to complete their drop offs is to have all the packing done and labelled before getting in line at the post office to drop it off.
USPS also suggested using the service’s website, USPS.com, to pay for and print out labels for boxes that can be picked up at a person’s home.
The busiest one day of mail this holiday season will see 612 million pieces move across the country.
But it wasn’t only the clerks busy on Thursday in Kailua-Kona.
The computerized mailing center also saw lines of people, most trying to ship one or two items. The machines are open 24 hours.
But the postal service itself has altered hours for the holidays. It’s business as usual until Thursday when most post offices are closing at noon and most mail is being picked up by that time. The post office also writes that priority mail accepted on that day could take a day longer to arrive. Offices are closed on Dec. 25.
Private carriers, including FedEx and UPS, have similar deadlines for their services.