SAN DIEGO – The U.S. Postal Service will officially kick off the holiday shipping season in San Diego on Wednesday, Dec. 1 by opening its Holiday Train Drive-Through Lane at its Main Post Office at 11251 Rancho Carmel Drive.

The convenient and colorful train lane, located in the Post Office’s Drive Up Lane, allows customers who are shipping domestic Priority Mail packages and paying with debit or credit cards, and those dropping off packages with prepaid postage or buying holiday stamps, to conduct their transactions without having to leave their cars. Packages must be boxed, sealed and addressed prior to entering the train lane.

The Holiday Train Drive-Through Lane is open from noon to 3 p.m. weekdays from Dec. 1 to 17, and from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturdays Dec. 11 and 18.

“Our Holiday Train Drive-Through Lane has become an annual tradition for us and for our customers,” said USPS Holiday Spokesperson Tonya Billingslea. “It’s a great way for customers to reduce their holiday stress. They can get their shipping done without having to park their cars or walk into the busy retail lobby. And, it never fails to put a smile on their faces!

“This train lane is just one of the many ways that we’ve ramped up our operations during the holidays. We’ve hired more than 40,000 new employees across the nation, installed new equipment at select locations and redesigned our transportation network, all to ensure that we deliver a happy holiday to our customers.”

USPS expects to deliver more than 12 billion pieces of mail and about 950 million packages nationwide between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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