Green Monday creates busy shipping day in Yuba-Sutter

The Yuba City post office was so busy Monday afternoon that Casey Hall decided it would be faster to drive to Marysville to send a package.

This year, Hall tried to get a head start on his holiday shipping. As a glass artist, he had made Christmas tree ornaments of all shapes and colors for his family and friends in Tennessee. He even packed the fragile decorations himself.

Now all Hall had to do was send his gifts. However, the biggest problem, he said, was waiting in line.

Post offices were livelier than usual Monday — also known as Green Monday — as residents flooded shipping centers with gifts and Christmas cards in hand. Lines drove some customers away, as larger than average crowds kept postal workers busy.

"Today's not even our busiest day of the year," said Jennifer Arnold, postmaster at the Marysville post office, on Monday.

Arnold only expects things to get busier as Christmas nears, she said, adding that next Monday, Dec. 17, should be the busiest day at the post office.

On Green Monday last year, the Marysville Post Office recorded 848 transactions, not including business from Beale Air Force Base. This year, Arnold anticipates that those numbers will be even higher.

The weeks leading up to Christmas are so busy that extra trucks are used to move mail out of the post office.

"Everyday we can't hold anything back," Arnold said. "If we get it, it goes out."

Arnold said the post office does two things to cope with the busy holiday season: staff accordingly, and reduce shipping delays for customers.

Sharon Svoboda, of Marysville, was one of the many customers who sent Christmas gifts. Svoboda was shipping ornaments, handmade for her daughter from flowers used at her wedding.

"I am a Christmas nut," she said.

Dan McFarland and his wife, Amy, stood at a nearby table. They were putting stamps on a dozen or so Christmas cards.

Dan McFarland said they were able to avoid the rush.

"We were surprised we got through the lines so quick," he said. "We were amazed."

Fed Ex predicted Monday to be the busiest shipping day of the year. The shipping giant expected to move more than 19 million packages through its system Monday, or more than double the amount of a typical business day.