U.S. Postal Service seeing major Christmas spike - Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

The holiday season is well underway and it is a busy time for many, including the U.S. Postal Service.
They are working hard to make sure packages and cards are delivered on time.
The post office is seeing four to five times the amount of packages they normally do.
Their goal is to get you your packages as quickly as possible for the Christmas season.
    "Right about the week of Thanksgiving, I would say the mail more than doubled," Jeanna Rafter, a Supervisor at the U.S. Postal Service said.
It is more than just a mid-year rush.
    "On average, before the Christmas rush, we were receiving around 300 to 400 parcels at the Morningside station alone," Rafter said. "It has increased to around 600 to 700 a day."
And upwards of 1,000 some days.
We were able to join a carrier for part of their shift to learn a little bit about their job.
    "I have 780 deliveries on my route each day," Kathy, a Wichita Falls U.S. Postal Service Carrier said. "I walk about 11 miles."
Kathy believes December is their most important month of the year.
    "December is our month to shine," Kathy said. "It gives us an opportunity to show the functionality of our job from the minute the window clerk receives the packages to when the distribution clerk gives us our packages and prepares our mail for the day."
A new element this year is Amazon delivery.
    "As of the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we started doing Amazon delivery seven days a week," Rafter said. "We will continue that until the week after Christmas."
    "We deliver groceries and canned goods," Kathy said. "Anything you can buy at a boxed store, you can order through Amazon and we will bring it straight to your door."
Despite the crazy holiday rush, they enjoy what they do and do it with a smile on their face.
    "This job is my life," Kathy said. "It's my livelihood. It's what I'm proud to do. I'm proud to get up everyday and put on this uniform."
Santa Claus also uses the post office a lot this time of the year! 
If you address a letter to Santa and put it in your mailbox, we hear that he responds within a week.
He is pretty busy this time of the year!
UPS, FedEx and the Postal Service all have deadlines coming up to get your packages where they need to be by Christmas Day.
It varies depending what provider you use, but the last day you can ship something via Express or by Next Day Flight is December 23rd.
We have the complete list of all the deadlines here.

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