Ahh...the holidays. A time when packages, gifts, letters and cards are flung about our physical space at exorbitant rates, even for people you would have forgotten ever existed unless Facebook reminded you that they're still kicking. Hey, would it kill you to mail a card to Janet from high school?

One aspect of the holiday season we often gloss over is the strain it puts on postal workers, mail carriers and private company delivery professionals. For proof, just take a peek at the load of packages your FedEx delivery person has the next time they drop by. We felt it appropriate to help them out (these will benefit you by proxy!) with some things you can do to help keep holiday packages running smoothly.

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Make Sure Your House Number Is Visible

Recently we received a message from a Missoula FedEx delivery driver who made this suggestion, I had never thought about it but it makes sense:

We are in our peak season and especially with a ton more big companies having all their Black Friday deals online only, that a PSA of sorts can be made to make sure people's house numbers are posted and/or noticeable. It would make our year to see more house numbers and make sure we're not accidently misdelivering any packages.

Time is money. The longer a delivery driver has to spend finding YOUR house or apartment, the more delays other deliveries may experience.

This may be harder to do if you live in an apartment which may have dated signage or designations already on the building. But even a 8 1/2" x 11" piece of paper near your door letting a package delivery person know where YOUR apartment is would help. You can take it down if you're not expecting deliveries. It's a kind of "pay it forward" way of thinking that your delivery driver would appreciate.

Shovel Your Sidewalk / Driveway

I'm sure you could find plenty of content curators on social media who have endless hours of Ring cam footage showing delivery workers slipping, falling, breaking stuff, etc. Why this is considered entertainment, I don't know.

Since the day has not yet come when Amazon drones that can fly over snow and ice to deliver 100% of our packages, mail carriers and delivery professionals would appreciate a clean and dry pathway to your door. And if you could, keep the dogs at bay.

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10 Things Montanans Do to Get on Santa’s Naughty List

There's 6 weeks 'til Christmas and as you can see,
People do naughty things unknowingly.
But if you do these on purpose on the naughty list you'll go,
And if you do nice things then it's gratitude I'll show.

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