Local postal carriers are working hard to get cards and packages to your door in time for Christmas. If you still need to send stuff out, there are some things you'll need to know.
Post offices will be open on December 24 but some will have limited hours, closing at noon. Each post office will have its Christmas Eve hours posted. Customers are also advised to call 800-ASK-USPS for more information.
Meanwhile, postal carriers will remain quite busy delivering a massive amount of mail. On Monday, Western New York carriers delivered three million cards and letters and 100,000 packages. While the volume of letters and cards is expected to dwindle, local U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Karen Mazurkiewicz told WBFO that postal carriers could carry up to 100,000 packages per day leading up to Christmas.
While regular mail delivery will not take place on Christmas Day, postal carriers will still be at work delivering Priority Mail and Express packages.
"We're a 365-day-a-year organization, so our carriers will be out there and our mail processing people - the elves behind the doors - will also be working," Mazurkiewicz said. "We're ready."
One thing helping the cause this year is the record-setting warm weather. It has helped carriers work their beats more easily and comfortably. It has also helped ensure that out-of-town mail is arriving more efficiently.
"Think about the packages coming from all over the country," Mazurkiewicz said. "If there's a weather event in the Midwest or in the South, sometimes that bogs up the trucks, the airplanes and our ability to move the mail around. It's really been a wonderful gift."
