Postal officials prepare for holiday onslaught

'Twas the month before Christmas, when all through the house, the Postal Service was readying to deliver more than a mouse.

With the holiday season now here, the federal agency has plans to bring millions great cheer.

It's that time of year when U.S. Postal Service officials turn out to remind consumers that they are ready for the onslaught of holiday gifts.

They laid out an action plan Monday during a light-hearted press briefing.

"As a result of our manual count, we've determined that there will most likely be a Christmas this December 25," joked Nicholas Barranca, vice president of operations and planning, the Postal Service.

Barranca, dubbed "Saint Nick" by Postal Service press officers, expects this year to be the busiest holiday season on record. He predicts that the agency will handle more than 20 billion cards, letters and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas. That's a 3 percent increase over last year.

The Postal Service handles upwards of 150 million pieces a mail a day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. On an average day, the agency moves 100 million pieces of mail.

By comparison, United Parcel Service expects to deliver 325 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

To prepare for the truck and plane loads of gifts and cards, the Postal Service is hiring 40,000 temporary workers nationwide. Officials in each region will determine which operations need extra staffing.

The agency also plans to lease 80 extra planes to help with mail delivery.

As a cost saving and efficiency measure, the Postal Service will shift some of its Priority Mail to surface transportation. Typically, it costs between $0.75 and $1.00 per pound to ship packages by air. Surface transportation costs between $0.15 and $0.22 per pound.

In another cost-saving move, the Postal Service plans to reissue holiday stamps from last year.