MAIL NOW TO AVOID THE RUSH

Cape Girardeau postal employees are preparing for what is expected to be the heaviest mail day of the Christmas mailing season next week.

Last year the Cape Girardeau Post Office processed 700,000 pieces of mail on Dec. 18, last year's peak mail day. This year they expect to process and handle at least 750,000 pieces of Christmas mail and parcels on the same date.

Cape Girardeau Postmaster Mike Keefe said: "This is why we're asking everyone to mail early. The quicker the customer gets the mail to us, the quicker we can deliver it."

The postmaster said there is still time to mail Christmas parcels, cards and letters in time for delivery before Christmas, but he advised not too wait too long.

"All local, outgoing Christmas cards and letters should be in the post office no later than Dec. 22," said Keefe. "Cards and letters going to other post offices within the region should be mailed no later than Dec. 20. Cards and letters going to other parts of the United States should be mailed no later than Dec. 18."

Keefe said Christmas parcels to out-of-town addresses should be in the post office no later than Dec. 14 to insure delivery before Christmas. "After that date you can still mail parcels by priority or express mail," said Keefe. "Priority mail parcels can be sent until Dec. 20, and express mail parcels can be sent until Dec. 22 to insure delivery before Christmas."

Keefe said the volume of parcel post mail this year at the post office is up 50 percent over last year. He said: "Some of the increase is due to a home delivery surcharge that United Parcel Service imposed several months ago. This has made our parcel post service more cost effective and brought back a lot of the parcel business. Also, more people are doing a lot more mail-order shopping this year."

Keefe said the peak period for incoming Christmas parcels at the post office will take place between Dec. 14-18. He said the peak day for incoming Christmas cards is Dec. 21.

To accommodate the outgoing Christmas mail rush, the Cape Girardeau Post Office service windows will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Saturday, Dec. 11 and 18, the post office windows will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This year the postal service has a new policy for mailing Christmas parcels that will help for a timely and convenient delivery of the parcel. It's called the carrier-release program. Keefe explained mail carriers can now be instructed to leave uninsured parcels at the place of delivery if no one is at home to receive it, provided there is a location protected from the weather.

To use the service, Keefe said the sender of the parcel should write on the parcel under the return address, "Carrier -- leave if no response." If this endorsement is written on the parcel, the mail carrier will leave the parcel and eliminate the need for the recipient to go to the post office or to make other delivery arrangements. The service was instituted last year, said Keefe. For more information about parcel Carrier-release, call the post office at 335-5501.

Keefe also has some mailing tips for Christmas cards, letters and parcels that will speed up and insure prompt delivery of the mail. "On all parcels be sure to put the recipient's address in the lower right portion of the parcel, on one side only. The sender's address goes in the upper left-hand corner of the parcel, again, on one side only. Be sure to include your ZIP code and that of the recipient," the postmaster said.

"I know it goes against tradition and manners, but the post office would like everyone to either type or print addresses on Christmas cards or letters. Our high-speed, electronic mail scanning equipment is designed to read type-written addresses on envelopes. If you have a typewriter or a computer printer, you can type the addresses on peel-and-stick labels."

Keefe said when typing addresses eliminate all punctuation except for the hyphen in the ZIP-plus-4 codes. He said: "Spell out the name of the city, but use the postal service's two-letter abbreviation for states. Do not use the name of a building in place of a street address. For rural addresses, the route number should precede the box number. Use the abbreviations Ave., St., Ln., and Rd. instead of avenue, street, lane, and road, and use only the first letter for east, west, south, north.

"I realize this goes against everything most of us have been taught in school, but the postal service is in the electronic computer age with high-speed scanning equipment. We must learn to adjust our mailing habits in order to take advantage of this modern equipment that can help speed the Christmas mail much faster," said Keefe.