San Francisco shipping companies prepare for busiest mailing week of the year

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- This week is the busiest shipping week of the year with the U.S. Postal Service delivering more than 800 million packages across the country.

According to Doug Smith, the USPS Postmaster for San Francisco, San Francisco alone delivered 750,000 packages on the second week of December.

At one station in Nob Hill, they doubled their normal volume and handled 35,000 packages. It's an increase partially attributed to purchases from online retailers like Amazon.

"It's been good for us," said Smith. "Packages mean revenue!"

At the USPS location along Pine Street, carriers have been working since the early morning hours to ensure packages get to their destinations on time.

First class shipping deadline is Dec. 20 and Priority Mail service deadline the day after.

HOLIDAY SHIPPING DEADLINES 2019: Last day to mail packages for Christmas delivery

San Francisco is doing what it can to meet demand, even bringing in around 50 carriers from across the state to help.

"It's a special detail so they basically fly us all up here to assist and help out and to make sure customer service is excellent." Smiles Jacob Connizzo, who came from Los Angeles and is staying in San Francisco for about a month.

While the USPS is running at maximum capacity, independent shippers are as well... but for another reason.

At LPH shipping in Presidio Heights, owner Jimmy Phan shows us around.

There are boxes everywhere, piled high. This is their busy season as well, but while shipping service is down, slightly another facet of their business has increased tremendously -- all thanks to porch pirates.

"Business is good when it comes to incoming packages, meaning we get a lot of parcel packages from around the neighborhood. People get a lot of theft around here so they send them here and stuff so there's someone to sign for it and someone to watch over it at all times. I would say 10 years ago we wouldn't have this many packages sitting around. Now we do," Phan says while standing near a stack of boxes waiting to be picked up.

RELATED: How to make sure your holiday packages get where they're going

Loyal customers though say they still choose to ship from this location no matter what time of year to get that sense of community.

"They know everybody and everybody knows them. Their dogs, their kids, everything!" beams one woman who is shipping a package to her boyfriend on the East Coast.

When asked about the need for seasonal carriers, Smith stressed the shortage and need for career carriers -- ones that'll replace those who are retiring and stay on with the Postal Service for years to come.

Information on open positions can be found online here.