The clock is ticking on the number of days left to get packages in the mail if residents want them to arrive before Christmas Day.
Durango Postmaster Victoria Delsid said she expects Monday to be the busiest shipping day of the year, but residents have until Dec. 15 if they want ground-delivery packages to arrive by Dec. 25.
“Everyone’s in a hurry, and everyone has a place to be,” she said. “We just try to do our job to the best of our ability with a smile on our face.”
The line Wednesday at the Durango Post Office stretched out the mail room door at times with customers trying to send holiday packages. Most customers sighed, rolled their eyes or grinned and beared it – but a few became discouraged and left.
Pat Rustad of Durango waited about 20 minutes to mail gifts to her son and daughter-in-law in Minnesota.
“I don’t mind the crowds, because most people are in a good mood and like to chat,” she said. “I guess I would say if you don’t like lines and having to wait, get an early start.”
Marilyn Clippinger of Durango had about the same wait to send packages to family in California and Oregon.
“I’m done now,” she said triumphantly. “I always try to do it early, that way I can enjoy baking and enjoy friends before Christmas.”
For procrastinators needing to ship packages, Delsid offered a few tips:
Arrive early. The line is longest around the lunch hour, and tends to persist during the afternoons, especially during the holiday season. “The earlier in the day, the better,” Delsid said.Try the self-serve kiosk near the entrance. The kiosk accepts debit cards and credit cards, and it has a dropbox for packages. It also is available during times the mail room is closed.Go online to pay for postage and schedule a pickup. Mail carriers will pickup shipments from your home, as long as it’s first class, priority or express mail. “You will save money by doing it online,” Delsid said.Consider dropping off packages at the Fort Lewis College Post Office, which is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Student Union. “They said there’s hardly anybody in there, so you can get in and out,” Delsid said.She also offered general mailing tips:
Never guess at a ZIP code. It’s better to have no ZIP code than a wrong one.Place an index card inside the package saying where it is going and where it can be returned. That way, if the wrapping on the package comes undone, employees can still deliver it.Take batteries out of toys and other gizmos. If a toy starts vibrating or rattling, it could trigger a negative response, like segregating the package so it can be investigated.If the package is going out-of-country, customers must complete customs forms, which can be obtained before reaching the counter at the front of a line. “We urge people to come to our counter prepared,” Delsid said. “That includes having your item addressed.”Customer Dottie Eccher of Durango had some advice of her own for the Durango Post Office: Hire more clerks to work the front counter, especially during the busy holiday season. Against her better judgment, Eccher stopped by the post office about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday to find a long line. She usually uses other services in town, such as United Parcel Service, she said.
“They’re very busy, but they take care of people right away,” she said. “The post office is just not working anymore, for me.”
It seems like the Durango Post Office does good business, because it always has a line, she said. So it seems like it should be able to afford to hire more clerks to staff the counter. Yet, it seems like there’s only one or two clerks ever on duty, she said.
In the end, she fled the post office on Wednesday and took her package to the Mail Room & Copy Center in Town Plaza.
Delsid said it may look like only one or two clerks are on duty at a given time, but that can be deceiving. Often, clerks are in the back looking for packages or performing other duties. They may have stepped away for a bit, but they’re still doing counter work, she said.
The Durango Post Office is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Hours may be extended leading up to the holidays, but no decision to do so had been made as of Wednesday afternoon, Delsid said.
Postal Service employees are arriving early this holiday season – some as early as 2 a.m. – to sort boxes for delivery, she said.
The Durango Post Office has handled more than 117,000 packages so far this year, which is a 10.7 percent increase compared with the same period last year. Last week, the post office handled 13,849 packages, or about 12 percent of its year-to-date volume.
“We’ve got tons, tons, tons of deliveries, and we’re trying to do it with the staff we have, and the personnel that we’ve got, and during our normal business hours,” Delsid said. “This is our season; this is what we do.”
shane@durangoherld.com
