Orlando, FL - On Monday, December 20, 2010, the Orlando Post Office and post offices nationwide will be as busy as Santa’s workshop. That’s because Monday, December 20 will be the biggest and busiest mailing day of the year.  Wednesday, December 22 will be the biggest mail delivery day of the year.  Because Christmas Day falls on a Saturday this year, the Postal Service will experience peak volume mailing on Monday, December 13 also.

Nationwide, the Postal Service expects to handle 801 million postmarked cards and letters on December 20 and millions of packages. The Orlando Post Office expects to handle 1.3 million postmarked holiday cards and letters; and approximately 500,000 packages on Monday, Dec. 20 alone. That is 3-4 times the mail volume of a regular day.

“We expect a very busy day Monday handling all those holiday cards and packages but that’s fine because we welcome all the holiday mail our customers give us,” says local Postmaster John Rhoden.  “We appreciate all their business. Our post office and postal workers everywhere are working diligently to make sure that mail is delivered on time.” Mailing deadlines are fast approaching to get your holiday packages to arrive by Christmas. If you are mailing First-Class, mail by Monday, Dec. 20.  If you are mailing Priority (the best bargain in shipping), mail by Tuesday, Dec. 21.  Express Mail for packages is still available to many destinations after those dates.

Call 1-800-ASK-USPS (1-800-275-8777) for local post office service hours, rates, ZIP Codes and general holiday mail information.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/welcome.htm.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.