The long lines at the post office should not come as a surprise this time of year. Post offices, like Austin's, are gearing up for the season and all seem to agree on one thing.

Mail early.

Those who have been good and got their mailing done this past week won't have to worry as much.

For those chronic procrastinators, however, the window of opportunity narrows by the minute.

"Just as always, we tell people to mail as soon as possible," said Austin Postmaster Dan Heins.

The post office is predicting Dec. 16 and 17 will be the heaviest mailing days as far letters and cards volume.

The rest of the week will be the busiest in terms of delivery.

"If they mail early in the day, that helps us tremendously," Heins said.

The Austin post office is not extending its service hours, but it does have additional transportation to one of the plants in Rochester, where all of Austin's mail is processed.

"We've been busy almost everyday of the week," said Don Austin, owner of Mail Boxes Etc.

Austin's company does shipping through UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service. Austin said that some of the companies withdraw their guarantee after Dec. 12, because of the quantity of packages receive after that date.

Heins said offered some shipping and mailing tips for the holiday season:

For priority mail; mail no later than Dec. 21 for non-local mail and Dec. 23 for local mail (Austin or neighboring towns).

For Express Mail; local and non-local with designated zip codes should be mailed no later than Dec. 23.

Write the complete address with correct zip code on packages and letters.

With packages, a note stating the sender and receiver information is recommended.

Don't use string, use strong tape.

Make sure fragile items are properly wrapped.

Other Postal Services deadlines

Military mail: The deadlines for parcel post, airlift and space-available mail have passed.

International mail: to Africa, Central America and South America deadline has passed. To Asia, the Pacific Rim, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East, the deadline is Monday.

"The thing to do is to get it in the mail as soon as possible," Heins said.

Roxana Orellana can be reached at 434-2214 or by mail at :mailto: roxana.orellana@austindailyherald.com