GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. -- This time of year you hear an awful lot about the "holiday shopping season." Change one letter, you've got another very busy season, and it's just starting right now. Welcome to the "holiday shipping season."
"It helps our system if people mail in the middle of the week, not on Mondays," St. Paul's US Postmaster Mike Larson said at a news conference on Tuesday. The US Postal Service is predicting Monday December 14th and Monday the 21st could be the two of the busiest mailing days ever.
The post office was also touting its new flat-rate boxes. They're small boxes with fixed prices (starting at $4.95) that operate under one premise: "if it fits, it ships." The box just has to be less than 70 pounds. Officials also hoped to push customers out of line by guiding them online, where you can pay for and print postage. "We'll come and pick it up so you never have to leave your house," Larson explained.
Down the street, at the UPS Store in Golden Valley, Randy Holst was adjusting holiday work schedules to deal with the onslaught of customers. He says shippers can side-step a lot of hassle by packing their boxes properly.
"You want to use what's called the 6 strip method. 3 on the top, 3 on the bottom," he said. Holst was demonstrating with packaging tape, which he says is the only one that is resistant to condensation.
Another warning; don't wrap those boxes with holiday paper, no matter how tempted you may be. "It's actually a big cause of lost packages. That paper gets torn off and then no one knows where the package needs to go."
Both UPS and FedEx are offering to package fragile items for their customers. For a fee, the shippers will guarantee the goods arrive in good condition. "It is becoming very common," Ridgedale FedEx/Kinko's store manager Chris Bakeman said.
Bakeman says one of the biggest problems he sees is people not packing the boxes full. "When we receive a package at the counter, we're going to do a (very light) shake test to make sure nothing's moving around in the package," Bakeman explained. You and the shipper have the same goal. Make sure your piece gets to its recipient on time and in one piece.
If you're searching around for the best shipping price, the computer is a great place to start. USPS, UPS, and FedEx all have very easy to use websites that can help you determine what the shipping cost might be based on destination, weight, and package size.
Bakeman and Holst will warn you, the longer you wait, the more it will cost you. Shipping by air could double, triple, or even quadruple the cost when comparing it to ground rates.
It is advised that you bring your package in by December 17th to make sure it gets to the destination on time if you're using ground transport.
You can wait til' December 23rd (with all 3 shippers) and still get your gifts to the intended people in time for Christmas if you ship by air, but again, it'll cost you. "If you want to save money, ship early," Bakeman concluded.
(Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
