With the U.S. Postal Service predicting its busiest holiday season ever, the post offices in Springfield and Rincon will be open regular business hours on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

The Springfield and Rincon post offices will be open 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31.

The Guyton Post Office will be open for half a day, 8:30 a.m.-noon, on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

Mail delivery for Dec. 24 and Dec. 31 will be the same as any other Monday.

For early pickup on those two days, mail should be deposited into blue collection mailboxes before noon. Customers requiring postal services later on those days are encouraged to contact their local postmaster.

In observance of the holidays, all post offices will be closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. Only Express Mail will be delivered on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day in most major metro areas. Post offices will resume regular business hours Dec. 26 and Jan. 2.

Boosted by the increasing number of packages shipped by online shoppers, the U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver 365 million packages this holiday season — a 20-percent increase over 2011. Nearly 18 billion cards, letters and packages will be delivered between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, according to the USPS.

The U.S. Postal Service reports that its busiest mailing day for holiday cards and packages was Dec. 17, when more than 655 million pieces of mail were processed — compared to 538 million on an average day. The USPS says the busiest delivery day for letters was Dec. 19 and the busiest day for packages was Dec. 20.

For more information about postal services during the holiday season, go online to usps.com or call 1-800-ASK-USPS.