HOLIDAY MAIL MARKS START OF BUSIEST SEASON FOR POST OFFICE

The big rush of holiday mail is officially under way.

Cape Girardeau and Jackson post offices have been gearing up for the deluge of mail and packages that come the final two weeks before Christmas.

"It's happening now," said Matthew Peters, manager of customer services at the Cape Girardeau post office, and Mike Heuschober, postmaster at Jackson.

Every year the last two Mondays prior to Christmas have been the busiest two days of mail for the U.S. Postal Service.

"We were swamped with incoming mail Monday," said Peters. "A lot of people mailed a lot of cards and letters over the weekend."

Normally the Cape Girardeau post office delivers 125,000 pieces of mail daily. During the next couple of weeks the total could surpass 200,000 a day.

"Next Monday we could be handling 250,000 to 300,000 pieces of mail," said Peters. "There will be a big outflow of mail on that final weekend before Christmas. We'll be swamped with everything cards, letters and packages."

Peters said packages mailed as late as next Monday can still reach most U.S. destinations.

"The number of packages is way up this year," said Peters. "We're probably seeing 30 percent more packages than a year ago."

More packages are also going through the Jackson post office.

"We're probably up 40 percent in packages over a year ago," said Heuschober. "We're seeing big increases from the Internet this year."

The number of letters and cards also are up at Jackson.

"On an average day throughout the year, we'll see about 35,000 to 40,000 pieces of mail," said Heuschober. "During the holiday we'll see 45,000 to 50,000."

Nationwide, the Postal Service is expected to handle more than 300 million cards and letters each of the last two Mondays before Christmas.

Long lines at counters will be the order of the day throughout the next two weeks, said Peters.

"Stamp sales have been big," he said. "Customers are lining up daily to purchase stamps and to mail cards, letters and packages."

On Saturday post office window hours are expanded at Cape Girardeau. They normally close at noon, but will be open until 3 p.m., as they were last Saturday.

The big rush of holiday mail actually started the day after Thanksgiving with a stream of catalogs and sales circulars. Shortly afterwards customers started sending overseas Christmas gifts.

The week before Christmas is usually the busiest of the year for the Postal Service, said Peters, adding that mail traffic will double then. Postal workers will be logging long hours that week, he said.

Regular deliveries are planned through Christmas Eve, and Express Mail will be delivered on Christmas Day. Postal carriers will wear Santa Claus suits for Christmas Day deliveries.