Easley Post Office Staying Busy for the Holidays

It's always clear what season it is when you visit the post office around the holidays, and the Easley Post Office is no exception.

As last-minute gifts and cards continue to make their way across the country, the U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver 16.5 billion letters, packages and cards through the 2011 holiday season, according to Harry Spratlin, communications coordinator for the USPS Greater South Carolina District.

"We've been very busy this week and expect to be busy for the next couple of days," Easley Postmaster Jeff White said.

The busiest day of the year for the post office was Tuesday, when more than 600 million cards and letters were processed nationwide. White said Monday was the busiest day for deliveries but he expects the volume to continue through Saturday.

You may have noticed postal couriers out and about past the normal hours lately, and that's because they've been working overtime to get the job done.

"The delivery routes have been very heavy with packages and the delivery couriers have been running a little behind because of that," Smith said.

But rest assured, they won't stop until that last package is dropped off.

"We don't stop until it's done," he said.

All 41 routes in the Easley Post Office jurisdiction will be delivering holiday mail straight through Saturday. Last-minute shoppers will have until Thursday to ship gifts by Express Mail to arrive at their destination by Christmas Day.

White said patrons who want to avoid the last minute rush to the post office can take advantage of two new contract substations in Easley. Kmart on Calhoun Memorial Highway and Cornerstone Christian and Music Supply store on Gentry Memorial Highway each have USPS service centers where customers can mail items and buy stamps and boxes.

"A lot of our customers are not aware of those locations," White said.

USPS customers can also mail packages and letters 24/7 at the self-service kiosk in the post office lobby. At the kiosk customers can purchase stamps and mail packages or letters.

There's plenty of options to get your gifts there on time, but you better not wait too long, there's only four days left.