The Postal Service kicked off the holiday shipping season recently by announcing it will be delivering packages seven days a week starting the week of Dec. 6 through Christmas Day, including in communities in and around the Twin Cities due to the anticipated 10.5 percent package volume growth over last holiday season.

“The Postal Service ships more packages to more places than anyone else,” said Northland District Manager Anthony Williams. “During the holidays, we’re raising the bar with enhanced tracking and Sunday delivery providing excellent service and reliability that only Santa can compete with.”

Local cities included in the Postal Service Sunday delivery efforts include Rochester, Byron, Austin, Albert Lea and Winona.

Sunday package delivery continues the commitment to provide the Postal Service’s customers with superior service as the nation’s mail carrier continues to respond to the increase in package business stemming from the growth in e-commerce.

Due to continued e-commerce growth and improvements to its priority mail product line, the Postal Service is expecting its package business this holiday season to balloon to nearly 600 million packages.

“America is going to watch us deliver a record amount of packages this holiday season — it’s crunch time for the entire organization,” said Williams. “We have stepped up our game to assure each and every customer that USPS can be counted on to deliver their cards, gifts and letters in time for the holidays.”

For expected delivery of holiday mail and packages by Christmas, the Postal Service recommends standard post should be sent by Dec. 15; first class including cards and letters should be sent by Dec. 19; priority mail should be sent by Dec. 21; and priority mail express should be sent by Dec. 23.

According to a press release, consumers can avoid holiday hassles by visiting usps.com — the Postal Service’s website that will help make mailing and shipping easier.

More than 66 million customers will skip the trip to the Post Office altogether and take advantage of convenient online shipping this holiday season.