LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- U.S. Postal Service employees are working to get last-minute packages and cards to their destinations ahead of Christmas Day.

As of this week, time is running out for people to order packages in time for a pre-Christmas arrival.

Rick Rosenbury, a processing support specialist at the Louisville's Gardiner Lane post office, said the week before Christmas is "a very, very challenging time of year, but also a very, very rewarding time of year."

It's certainly the busiest time of year. 

Rosenbury said some of the machines inside the facility are processing up to 6,000 pieces of mail every hour during this peak season. The machines will help sort and send all of those packages to someone's home. 

Nationally, the United States Postal Service said it has added new package sorting machines and hired thousands of seasonal workers ahead of the holiday season.

Inside the the processing plant Tuesday, packages were going by on a conveyor belt and letters were placed in a line. It was all hands on deck — or steering wheel for those hauling large boxes — to stay ahead of the holidays.

"Our volume is approximately probably triple what it is the rest of the year during this time of year," Rosenbury said, adding that it "normally continues up through Christmas Day."

USPS said the deadline for priority mail packages to make it in time for Christmas arrival is Wednesday, Dec. 20, and the deadline for priority express packages is Dec. 21.

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