Santa the Postmaster’s Message: Mail It Early

Frank Watson has a message, and he’s found an unusual way of delivering it.

The Tustin postmaster, determined to remind his customers to mail holiday cards, letters and packages early, donned his Santa suit early this week and stood in front of his 1st Street post office to get the message out.

“I was out there picketing my own office, trying to emphasize that mailing early helps enhance delivery,” Watson said.

During the holiday season, when the post office handles 40% more mail than during a typical month, Watson said dressing as Santa is his good-natured way of urging holiday procrastinators to mail early.

“I’m trying to be creative and help local consumers with their postal needs,” he said.

The U.S. Postal Service and shippers like United Parcel Service want customers to mail early to ensure that their holiday gifts and wishes arrive on time.

The 39-year-old Watson, who uses his own Santa suit, plans to climb back into the outfit on Monday, which he called the “crunch day for holiday mailing.”

For best results, Watson advises mailing packages before Dec. 20 via priority mail.

“Priority mail is the best bang for their buck with delivery across the United States in two or three days,” he said. Anything mailed on the 23rd or later should be sent by Express Mail. Deliveries even will be made on Christmas.

Cards and letters take a day or two to reach their destination. Watson said that while mail will be delivered as late as Christmas Eve, senders should drop their Christmas cards in neighborhood boxes sooner. Pickups have been stepped up to three times daily, he said.

In addition to mailing early, Watson said, packaging and addressing packages correctly--with the right ZIP Code--is vital.

UPS, which delivers 265 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas, urges its customers to use boxes large enough to accommodate not only the gift, but at least two inches of material around each item.

The shipping giant said Dec. 19 is considered the peak day of the year as 17 million packages--5 million more than normal daily load--are delivered.

Customers planning to send packages via UPS should arrange for pickups before Dec. 23. Pickups can be arranged by calling (800) PICK-UPS. Detailed information is available on the shipper’s World Wide Web site at https://www.ups.com.

Federal Express warns its customers that the last day to ship domestic packages for Christmas Eve delivery is Dec. 21 for two-day service and Dec. 23 for overnight delivery. Information on FedEx is available on the company’s Web page at https://www.fedex.com or by calling (800) Go-FedEx.