With six days until Christmas to go and just one weekend to shop for those last minute gifts, postal and parcel companies are working fast to make sure packages are received by December 25.

There is no surprise that Christmas season is one of the busiest times of the year for postal and parcel companies. An estimated 200 packages are dropped by the post office a day to be mailed to friends and families all over the world, particularly to troops overseas.

Patti Thomas, postmaster of the Demopolis postal branch, contests, "We have been pretty busy."

She anticipates packages to continue to come in until the holiday season ends. However, she suggests the best way to send a package now is express mail. For loved ones to receive their gifts on time, paying the extra fees to ship express may be worth it.

Thomas assures even assured express mail packages would be delivered by Christmas Day.

Although, business has slowed down slightly as Christmas day approaches, The UPS Store in Demopolis has been receiving a large volume of packages, particularly to international locations.

Similarly, for the post office, who have had rerouted work schedules to stay consistent with the increasing workload, the UPS drivers are making "numerous sweeps," to make sure packages are going out.

hey have been working really hard to get packages to their designations. The store has even extended their hours to accommodate those who are late in getting packages out.

Thornhill recognized the pattern in the number of packages being sent to soldiers overseas, that she availed a discount to those sending packages to the troops, "in appreciation," she said.