By Jenny Callison
Enquirer contributor

This week's down-to-the-wire time for people mailing most holiday greetings and packages.

Monday was the U.S. Postal Service's biggest day for mailing, with 850 million pieces of mail expected (about 28 percent more than on a typical day). At Cincinnati's main facility alone, workers expected Monday to cancel 2.5 million pieces of mail, up 4 percent from last year, said local spokeswoman Bonni G. Maines.

PEAK DAYS

• U.S. Postal Service: Monday was the heaviest day, with 850 million items mailed (about 185 million more than a typical day). Projected top delivery day: Wednesday.   • UPS: The service normally delivers 13.6 million packages a day. On Thursday, the expected peak, its drivers will drop off more than 18 million packages.   • FedEx: The company's ground service has already had its peak for drop-offs and deliveries. Its overnight air service normally handles 3 million packages a day. Thursday, it will receive more than 5 million for delivery on Friday.

What's the biggest day for mail deliveries - in a season when 20 billion letters, packages and other items are sent? It's Wednesday.

The holiday rush, of course, isn't limited to the post office. Thursday's expected to be the biggest day for UPS deliveries and the biggest day for FedEx drop-offs.

Tristate residents found long lines at Tristate post offices, no matter whether they came burdened with packages or needed stamps for greeting cards.

"I usually wait until about now. I'm a procrastinator," said Avanelle Faine of Mason as she hefted her boxes of homemade peanut brittle over the counter at the Kings Mills Post Office. She chuckled when employee Maryan Harrison asked if her packages contained anything potentially hazardous.

"We opened a couple of minutes early and there was a line out the door almost all morning," said Ron Gerdes, lead sales associate at the Cheviot post office. "It slowed down for about an hour just before noon, but then with lunch hour it got busy again."

MAILING TIPS

• If you're sending a package through the U.S. mail, your best bet to ensure delivery before Christmas is Priority Mail. Starting Saturday, the Postal Service advises you to send it Express Mail. • It's too late to send mail to international locations, if you want it to get there by Christmas. • Cincinnati's main post office, at 1623 Dalton Ave. in Queensgate, will be open 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. Some branches are expanding hours on Saturday. On Sunday, the Anderson, Groesbeck and Sycamore branches will be open 1-4 p.m. The Florence post office at 7101 Turfway Road will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. • The postal facility at the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, at 76 Clay Drive, is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. • To minimize problems with your mail, make sure the address is complete and legible, and always include a complete return address. • If it absolutely, positively, has to get there today, try SonicAir by UPS. The same-day pickup-and-delivery service has rates that start at $169 for packages under 25 pounds.

Beverly Thompson, officer in charge of the Kings Mills post office, made frequent trips outside to empty the drive-up mail receptacle into a large hamper.

"Normally we have two of these tubs going out on a Monday," she said. "Today we've got about 22 tubs in this hamper. And that's just letters."

The Postal Service saw its business drop in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 by 4.6 billion pieces, as the Internet, competition, a decline in letter writing and the economy's weakness cut its volume.

Still, the holiday season brings an annual mail crunch - one that's magnified this year because Thanksgiving fell so late.

At the Cheviot post office Monday, workers tried to combine thoroughness with efficiency while keeping smiles on their faces. Customers, too, seemed to take the experience in stride.

"Everyone's kinda happy," Mr. Gerdes said. "People still have plenty of time, and in some cases they still have a full range of options for mailing."

Manning one of the counter stations, Mr. Gerdes explained the advantages of priority mail over parcel post to Paul Igwe. The Westwood resident opted for the time savings of priority mail. He also paid an extra 45 cents per item for tracking service.

"These videotapes have to get to Texas before Christmas, because they're going to use them on Christmas day," he said. "And I'm sending a gift card to my brother in New Jersey so he can finish my mother's shopping."

Although Cheviot manager Katrina Baker-Calmeise said the day was going remarkably smoothly, sales associate Antaun Hill said his shift at the counter had been a challenge.

"One lady came in with a package for Africa," he related. "It was so big it wouldn't fit on my scale. We had to tell her to go back home and break it down into at least two packages."