The clock is ticking to get your holiday gifts shipped in time. Postal workers are giving it their all to get those presents mailed out.

The United States Postal Service gave NewsChannel 13 a behind-the-scenes look to see how many employees it takes to get the job done.

This time of year brings holiday cheer and a ton of packages. What’s inside? Probably a gift.

“This is our Super Bowl,” Martin Siminski said, a senior plant manager for USPS.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and the most busy time of the year for the United States Postal Service.

Siminski said they’ve been working day and night since Thanksgiving.

“We’ve received record volumes. Like a 10% increase from last year.”

Siminski said they get thousands of packages each day. On Monday, Dec. 11, there were close to 120,000 packages at the USPS location on 30 Karner Road in Albany.

Employees at USPS take extra good care of your holiday gifts.

“We consider ourselves like Santa’s helpers. It’s tough. It’s long hours this time but it is nice to hear from people. Sometimes, like the military, they come up and say, ‘thank you for your service,’” Siminski said.

A survey from Deloitte suggests holiday spending will surpass pre-pandemic levels for the first time.
Siminski said lots of people are shopping online.

“We’re seeing all kinds of packages come in. From little, little tiny ones to super big ones….it’s amazing to see what the customers are buying online nowadays.”

USPS said there are last-minute shipping dates you need to remember to make it in time for Christmas:
Dec. 16 by first class mail and ground advantage.
Dec. 20 by priority mail.
Dec. 21 by priority express.