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Busiest Day for Post Offices

WILKES-BARRE — This is expected to be the busiest mailing day of the year. Hundreds of millions of Christmas cards and presents are being sent off to thei...

WILKES-BARRE -- This is expected to be the busiest mailing day of the year. Hundreds of millions of Christmas cards and presents are being sent off to their destinations.

Many post offices around the country have been packed all day.

It's estimated that about five million people will pack post offices around the country on Monday.

About 611 million pieces of mail are expected to be shipped out, making Monday the busiest mailing day of the year.

"We did about 14,000 packages this morning, and our average is between five and six (thousand)," said USPS manager Harvey Everett.

Since the post office in Wilkes-Barre opened at 7 a.m., packages have been pouring in as people lined up to ship out last-minute gifts.

"I actually didn't know what to expect, but I am going to be here for a little while," laughed Michael Ingrim of Wilkes-Barre.

Ingrim did not know this was the busiest day of the year for shipping, or he would have sent out presents for his mother, aunt, and grandmother earlier.

"Next year, I am going to get here a little bit earlier so I don't have to stand in line, hopefully."

It's a sentiment shared by many in line at the post office.

"Now that I know, it's definitely best to plan, to definitely plan things out better," said Krysten Gabriel of Wilkes-Barre.

But post office employees know every year there will be the "present procrastinators," the last minute shippers.

So behind the scenes, this post office, like many, has a good system of sorting packages in place and employees willing to work overtime to make sure all the packages and presents get to their intended homes for the holiday.

"We've been delivering on Sunday, we have been delivering in the evening times, and we have kept up. Everything has been out on time," said USPS supervisor Nicholas Matson.

This is not the last day to ship out packages and cards for the holiday. You can still ship express and overnight up until Friday but it will cost you a little more.

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