Some delivery services are seeing record numbers
NORTHERN MICHIGAN -- Monday is supposed to be one of the biggest shipping days in history, and that's because more people are buying gifts from their computers.
Check this out: online sales are up more than 15 percent this holiday season.
Total online holiday sales add up to more than $24-billion.
All of those online sales mean some busy days for delivery services.
In fact, Monday is expected to be the busiest day in history for Fed-ex.
It also means a lot of work for local shops.
It's the most hectic time of the year. Gaylord’s Post Office saw more than three times the load Monday compared to a normal business day. People not wanting to be the Grinch are feeling the pinch.
“We want to make sure they get there!" said one mailer, who was sending stuff to her three sons out of state.
"It’s notorious for being the busiest mailing day because it's hitting people's deadlines, anything you want to make sure you get to your loved ones far away, so yeah, usually every year this Monday is the busiest one," said USPS’s Carole Singer.
The sound of packing tape and clanging glass filled the American Spoon warehouse in Petoskey. Inside the kitchen, cooks are working to meet the demand of items like their hot-selling strawberry preserve. Record numbers of sales are being sent out across the world.
"8 pallets for you guys, 12 pallets for you guys, and they just bring their semis in here and pick up at the end of the day," explained Lou Ives, American Spoon’s Shipping Manager.
I was lucky to even get into American Spoon because right now, it's clearly the busiest time of the year. They’ve hired 30 extra people to help with the holiday rush. They do more than half their online and mail order sales in the first three weeks of December. By the end of it, it does alright.
“We work from the crack of dawn to the end of the day, until the doors close, and the trucks roll out of here full of packages," said Ives.
"Our online sales traffic this year has tripled," said McLean and Eakin Booksellers owner Matt Norcross.
Norcross says the E-enterprise has grown significantly in the past five years. Local stores like his aren't missing out.
"Things are getting real crazy now," said a local postal carrier.
Mail trucks are filling up, businesses are working in overdrive, and the good news is, if you're a procrastinator, there's still a little bit of time.
“If you mail this week, you can usually get it there," said Singer.
If you want to ship through the post office, here's what they're telling us is your best bet.
Through this Thursday, standard shipping should make it on time.
Starting Thursday through next Wednesday, your best bet it priority mail.
And for last minute hopes, next Wednesday through Christmas, you're going to want to send it express.
Remember, prices increase as you expedite the service.
