Postal service races toward Christmas Eve finish line

On the busiest mailing day of the year nationwide, U.S. Postal Service workers are working around the clock to get your packages where they need to be on time

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — On the busiest mailing day of the year nationwide, U.S. Postal Service workers are working around the clock to get your packages where they need to be on time.

At the Columbia Postal processing and distribution center in West Columbia, close to 1,000 employees move your letters and packages off to their destination, or home to your mailbox or doorstep.

“We’re really focused,” Manager of In Plant Support for the Columbia plant Jamie Addison says. “We have what we call postal pride. We take pride in delivering on time every every day.”

The two Mondays before Christmas are the biggest days for sending mail out.

“We start gearing up for Christmas, in August,” Senior Manager for District Operations Mike Daniels says. “That’s how we plan and map it out so we’re successful.”

On this Monday, 850,000 letters move through the facility. Daniels says there are too many packages to count.

Nationwide, the postal service says it will handle 15.5 billion pieces of mail this holiday season.

If you’re using standard post delivery, you’ll need to send your packages by Tuesday December 15th, to be sure they arrive by Christmas Eve.