Shipping it out

With a gift package to be sent to her grandchildren in Ontario, Canada, Sandra Mason looked for the right size shipping box Friday at the Lake Jackson branch of the U.S. Postal Service.

"I'm trying to figure it all out," she said. "This is my first time using the Priority Mail service so we are just playing around here to find the right box."

She quickly found the right box.

"I'm doing it early so that I make sure that it gets there," Mason said.

She got on line behind two people around 10:10 a.m., and by 10:20 a.m., the line grew as more and more people came in with gift packages.

But this is just a prelude to the upcoming mailing rush.

The really busy mailing season, with three times the normal volume, will start the week of Dec. 14, said Gary Sawtelle, U.S. Postal Service spokesman for Central Florida.

It gets hectic and that's one of the reasons, though people like to wait until last minute, the best advice is get it done now and get it in the mail, he said.

There are still a lot of people who like to send Christmas cards, Sawtelle noted, and he suggested mailing them in the middle of the week.

People usually write out their cards over the weekend and then they all bring them in on Monday, he said. "So if we can push them to Tuesday or Wednesday it would be better for our processing purposes."

Among the shipping tips, remember to take the batteries out of toys.

"We don't want anything vibrating or doing anything funky," he said.

Also, always put a return address on the box and write it on slip of paper and place it inside the box just in case something obliterates the addresses on the outside, he said.

Andy Schur came to the post office to send a present to his grandson in Connecticut.

"This will be my first trip; there will be more," he said.

Linda Udall was sending a box of items to a "total stranger."

Through a program at her office at Florida Hospital Heartland Division, she filled a pre-addressed box to be sent to a soldier at Camp Basrah in Iraq.

She will be working on a batch of Christmas cards during the weekend to mail out soon.

"I bought 80 stamps so I will probably use all of those and buy more," Schur said. "I've lost my tradition. It used to be they were all done for Thanksgiving on the four days that I had off. I'd work on them and by Monday morning they were ready for the mail.

"That didn't happen this year."

Shipping dates to remember

The U.S. Postal Service 2009 Domestic Holiday Shipping Cut Off Dates (for delivery by Dec. 25):

• First Class Mail - Dec. 21.

• Priority Mail - Dec. 21.

• Express Mail* - Dec. 23.

• DBMC (destination bulk mail center) Drop Ship - Dec. 19.

• DDU (destination delivery unit) Drop Ship - Dec. 23.

*Go to www.usps.com for details and the cut off dates for international mail and military mail. The link for cut off dates - Holiday 2009 Mailing Dates - is close to the very bottom of the home page.

UPS - United Parcel Service

Normal pickup and delivery service for air, international and ground packages on Dec. 23.

Next Day Air packages picked up Dec. 23 will arrive on Dec. 24. Second Day Air packages picked up Dec. 23 will arrive Dec. 28 (except those processed and labeled for delivery on Dec. 26).

Check www.ups.com for details.

DHL - check www.dhl.com for details.