Holiday shipping crunch is on

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The fact that Christmas falls on a Monday this year might help those last minute shoppers, but it doesn't do any favors for those who need to ship their gifts.

Some deadlines for standard shipping have already passed while others are quickly approaching.

"Today was the day," said Philadelphia Mailroom worker Craig Vogin. "It's the busiest shipping day of the year."

Timothy Worker described this week at Fed-Ex as a marathon, not a sprint.

"You just have to prepare yourself for it," he said. "You can't get overworked, underworked; can't stress yourself out."

It was the same story at the South Street Business Center.

"I went to the local post office and the line was out the door, so that's why I'm here," said customer Max Nguyen.

Tuesday is the deadline for FedEx express saver and First Class Mail.

"People come days, like the 22nd and 23rd, and they want it to get delivered by Christmas, and that's not going to happen," said Adrienne Washington, owner of the South Street Business Center. "Unless they pay for overnight services, and that doesn't make any sense, because it's not guaranteed."

By the numbers, most seem to be doing their best to get a head start:

Representatives from UPS say its global delivery volume is up 5 percent from last year's peak shipping season.

FedEx expects to see a record number of packages, delivering as many as 400 million this holiday season.

And Monday was DHL's busiest shipping day of the year.

But if you are one of those so-called procrastinators, bottom line is you have until December 20 to use priority mail and the December 22 for priority mail express.

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