More than 4.3 million cards, letters and packages are expected to be mailed in Kansas on Monday, Dec. 19, the busiest mailing day of the year, according to the United States Postal Service. That’s 180,000 pieces per hour, 3,000 per minute, or 50 per second.
Nationwide, 611 million pieces of mail, 7,000 per second, are expected on the busiest day.
Great Bend Postmaster Guy Moeckel said his staff is ready for the holiday rush.
“We plan to have all three windows operational all next week,” he said. In addition to staff at the service windows, there will be someone in the lobby to answer questions and provide assistance.
“The best advice I can give customers is to mail early and conveniently,” said Wichita Postmaster Ryon Knopik.
Those looking to avoid the crowds, and save some time, are encouraged to ship from home for the holidays at usps.com where more than 3 million customers are expected to print postage-paid shipping labels and request a free pickup of their packages.
In addition to the nearly 575 Post Offices in Kansas, there are also a dozen full-service Contract Postal Units, and hundreds of locations to purchase stamps. To find the nearest postal location, call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777) or go to usps.com and click on “Find USPS Locations.”
This holiday season is expected to be a record-breaker for packages with Postal Service carriers delivering 750 million holiday packages nationwide, a 12 percent increase from last year and double the number of holiday packages delivered just four years ago.
Kansas postal carriers are projected to deliver a record 4.6 million packages this holiday season, a 12 percent increase compared to last year.
Moeckel said Great Bend’s Post Office had carriers delivering packages last Sunday and they will work again this Sunday, but they won’t make deliveries on Dec. 25.
He also noted that holiday and winter stamps are still available, except for the Nativity stamp, which sold out this week.

Tracking service
Postal customers are encouraged to go to myusps.com to sign up for real time text and email notifications of the status of their packages. If a package doesn’t fit in the mailbox and the customer won’t be home to receive it, the customer can provide delivery instructions online and authorize the carrier to leave it in a specified location, with a neighbor, or choose to pick it up at the Post Office.
Thursday, Dec. 22 is expected to be the busiest delivery day of the year for packages with more than 30 million packages being delivered.

Cut-off dates for arrival by Dec. 25

Suggested mail-by dates for cards and packages destined for U.S. addresses are: Tuesday, Dec. 20 for First-Class Mail; Wednesday, Dec. 21 for Priority Mail; and Friday, Dec. 23 for Priority Mail Express.