The Jefferson City Post Office has seen an 11.7 percent increase in service compared to the same time last year, as of Thursday.
"There's more people shopping online because it's easier to shop at home and have it delivered to you," Postmaster Krystal Drone said. "Over the last couple of days and into the beginning of (this) week, the purchases that people made on Black Friday and Cyber Monday are rolling in here and will be shipped out."
Drone said they have added two clerks to help distribute packages to carriers to get them out on their routes faster.
"Some of our carriers are starting a little earlier than normal, but most are starting at 9 a.m.," Drone said. "We try to have all carriers back off the streets by 6:30 p.m.
"Residents should note that during the holidays you can see as many as two to three carriers on your street. One carrier will deliver regular mail, and the others are delivering packages."
Residents should keep several key dates in mind for holiday shipping:
If you want to send a package by retail ground and have it get to its destination by Christmas, you need to mail it by Saturday.
For packages headed to military addresses, the best route is Express Mail, and it should be mailed by Dec. 18.
First Class Mail, including greeting cards and packages, needs to be in by Dec. 20.
Regular Priority Mail needs to be in by Dec. 21.
Express Mail needs to be in by Dec. 23.
Packages going to Alaska or Hawaii should be mailed by Dec. 18.
Drone said those wanting to mail international packages should come into the post office for service.
"A lot of people ask if they can have packages held at the post office or their mail held during the holidays," Drone said.
Those people should visit usps.com to request a hold or restart delivery.
Drone reported they had no reports of packages stolen yet this holiday season.
People can track their packages at usps.com, where they can also sign up to receive text message tracking alerts.
While the post office will be open Christmas Eve, there will be no deliveries on Christmas Day, Drone said. Deliveries will resume the day after Christmas.
The United Parcel Service and FedEx in Jefferson City will be closed on Christmas Day with no deliveries.
UPS officials said those shopping by standard ground during the holidays should give a few buffer days to make sure a package arrives at the desired time. All shipments are sent the day after UPS gets the package. For a shipment in state, the package should arrive in one day, but to get to California it could be as long as five business days. A package brought in Dec. 23 could still get to a destination by Christmas Eve if it's shipped Next Day Air.
For FedEx customers, starting Monday, FedEx Freight no-fee and money-back guarantee is suspended for shipments with required delivery dates of Monday through Jan. 2.
FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight are unavailable Dec. 21; and FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery, FedEx SmartPost and FedEx Freight are unavailable Dec. 22.
FedEx Freight will be open Dec. 23 with normal pickup and delivery operations. Shipments picked up that are not moved will resume transit Dec. 26.
All FedEx offices will close at 6 p.m. Christmas Eve, and many will have early station, on-call pickup and dropbox closings.