By CHRISTINE RAPPLEYE
christine@du2.byu.edu
Cookies to balloons to turkey dinners, many people will ship packages of gifts and food to friends, family and missionaries around the world in the next month.
Postal services will handle a projected 16.7 billion packages, cards and letters this holiday season.
Here are just a few tips on mailing those oh-so-important packages.
1. The earlier, the better.
'Earlier is better because closer to Christmas lines get longer, especially toward the afternoon and evenings,' said Michele Folsom, University Station manager.
Jerry Prigmore, BYU Bookstore Transportation and Shipping supervisor, said the sooner a package is shipped, the more likely it will cost less to arrive at its destination.
'The longer they wait, the price will go up quickly to ship a package to arrive at its destination on time, especially if it is going overseas,' Prigmore said.
2. Package it well and as small as possible.
Most shipping services, including the Bookstore's shipping department and University Station, sell boxes and envelopes and will help cushion the contents for mailing. If necessary, use foam peanuts, bubble wrap, shredded paper or other packaging to protect the package.
Even in transit time, bumpy airplane rides, etc., can cause packages to shift and move, Folsom said.
If you do put the package together yourself, use sturdy boxes, said Loy Ann Rose, a University Station employee. 'Lightweight paper boxes never hold up very well,' she said.
'Use good, strong packing tape,' said Teri Averett, University Station employee. 'Scotch tape and masking tape do not work as well as packing tape does.'
3. Print addresses clearly.
'Be sure to print the full address neatly and in English on foreign packages,' Rose said.
The most common problem is writing the country with the native spelling. All packages have to be addressed in English or they will not be mailed. Also include a return address on the letter or package.
'All mail without a return address cannot be put on an airplane and is shipped by surface, mail which takes an additional couple of weeks,' Folsom said.
4. Keep it light, and be prepared to take stuff out.
'Keep foreign packages under four pounds, because at four pounds there is a significant price jump, except for Italy -- the price jump is at two pounds,' said Rachel Morgan, 19, a sophomore from Twin Falls, Idaho, majoring in European studies, and a Bookstore shipping employee.
Usually using two boxes instead of one is the best way to keep it under four pounds, Morgan said.
5. Be patient.
Lines are long and employees are moving as fast as they can to insure people can package their gifts correctly and ship it off to the right place.
6. Some items cannot be shipped to foreign countries.
Mexico will not accept packages with chocolate; toy guns cannot be sent to South Korea; medicine and exposed, undeveloped film cannot be sent to Italy; and Japan will not accept packages with meat, just to name a few.
There is a book listing the items by country that will not be accepted into the country.
On all foreign packages a form is filled out with a description of what is in the box, the address and a return address.
'The package will be stopped in customs and either confiscated or returned at the sender's expense if there is something listed on the form that is not allowed in the country,' said Jerry Prigmore, BYU Bookstore shipping supervisor.
7. Remember customs in shipping foreign mail.
'Customs is a tax for things coming into the country,' Prigmore said.
The worst case scenario Prigmore has seen was a student whose parents were working in Brazil. She has saved up enough money to buy them Christmas presents, including clothes and other souvenirs. When the boxes reached Brazil, they were held up in customs until she paid for the boxes to get out of customs. However, she did not have the money and customs confiscated the boxes.
'A general rule of thumb in dealing with customs is to list the items as gifts and if it has a value less than $50, then there generally is not a fee,' Prigmore said. 'However, this varies from country to country.'
8. Options in shipping.
There are several ways to ship packages. United Postal Service, for domestic mail, and DHL, for foreign mail, are the most common carriers.
With both UPS and DHL, a package can be traced to its destination.
'Each package is given a barcode number, and the barcode is scanned at every transition point,' Prigmore said.
Both the shipping department and the customer keep a copy of the number. The package can then be traced by the customer through UPS's or DHL's Web sites at http:/www.ups.com and http://www.dhl.com, respectively.