Postal Service to deliver packages in some areas of Twin Cities Sunday

Through rain, sleet, snow ... and Sundays?

At least this Sunday, trucks from the U.S. Postal Service will be delivering packages in some areas in the Twin Cities, The Associated Press reports.

The USPS says it will be making the Sunday deliveries in an effort to ease the holiday crunch. It will also be making special pickups from blue collection boxes in front of most area post offices that day.

Retail services will not be available at the post offices making the Sunday deliveries, but mail can still be dropped off inside the lobbies of the post offices.

According to the AP, the USPS says it will handle an estimate 15 billion pieces of mail through the holiday season.

In Chicago, the USPS began making Sunday deliveries last week to keep up with the holiday rush, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Nationwide, holiday deliveries are up 12 percent over last year, a postal service representative told the Tribune.

The busiest shipping day of the year for the USPS is typically nine days before Christmas, the Huffington Post said.