Post Office ready for busiest weeks of the year
Alex Strickland/Bigfork Eagle Customers walk to the counter in the Bigfork Post Office. The staff of counter representatives and mail carriers are bracing for this week and next, the two busiest of the year.
If you think getting all of your Christmas presents wrapped, boxed up and addressed, just try delivering them. The staff of the Bigfork Post Office is braced for their busiest week of the year as parcels from all over the world stream into Bigfork for the holidays.
Ken Ross, the postmaster in Bigfork, said that the two weeks leading up to Christmas are the most hectic of the year for the staff, first because of the high volume of packages and letters going out, and then for the volume coming in.
“In and around Bigfork, some routes have up to 600 deliveries to make,” he said.
Ross said that on those busy routes, mail carriers sometimes have to double back to the post office to pick up another load because of the high volume of packages compared to normal.
Ross said that though lines may be a bit longer than normal at the post office, the staff is trying hard not to keep anyone in line longer than five minutes and “have been pretty successful at that.”
And for those with gifts still piled on the floor, fear not, it’s not too late to get packages in the mail.
Ross said that packages sent by priority mail by the end of this week should arrive at their destination before Christmas, provided it’s in the continental United States. And, since Christmas falls on a Thursday, packages shipped express mail on Monday, Tuesday, and in some cases even Wednesday, could still arrive on the big day.
“Some larger towns and cities will deliver on Christmas Day,” Ross said, adding that Bigfork is not among them.
Ross advised residents in rural areas to be sure to keep mailboxes shoveled out and easily accessible for carriers to help ensure delivery and that being vigilant from the beginning can help alleviate the buildup of snow and ice berms later in the year.
Even if it’s the last minute before those packages get in the mail, know this: You’re not alone. When it comes to waiting until the final bell to get packages in the mail, even the postmaster is guilty.
“I always do it, too,” Ross said.