Race is on to transport packages, people for holidays

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - As Amazon is gearing up for a busy week at his distribution centers in the Bay Area, lines are growing at post offices throughout the area.

Millions of orders are filled at Amazon's distribution center in Ruskin, which is one of 75 in the country. Once the packages leave the facility, many of them arrive at the cargo loading area at Tampa International Airport.

"During this time of year we see the number of planes coming and going increase from 18 to 23 a day, so that's a lot of cargo operations," said TIA spokesperson Emily Nipps, adding since 2015 the airport has doubled its cargo growth and Amazon is a big reason for that, as is UPS, which launched operations there last year. "For us, it means more cargo revenues, which is great for the airport and great for the community."

Amazon has a ground-level impact too; their orders can add to the load at the U.S. Postal Service, which already has about 900 packages to deliver during the holidays.

"We deliver the last mile for a lot of the Amazon packages, so we'll receive the packages at the post office and deliver them during our normal route because we go to every address every day," said Tracie Finley, a USPS spokesperson.

People hoping to deliver packages by Christmas have two dates to keep in mind: Dec. 20 and Dec. 22. Anything going through first-class and priority mail has to be out by Dec. 20. Dec. 22, meanwhile, is the deadline to send items that need to arrive by Christmas.