It was 21 degrees on a recent morning, and 58-year-old Dave Colbert said he was “in for a cold one” as he climbed into the driver’s seat of his U.S. Postal Service van, a holiday workload of 648 deliveries stacked behind him.

Colbert works at the Ellicott City post office, which handles between 150,000 and 200,000 pieces of mail every day, according to postmaster Howard Hines.

The office averages between 5,000 and 7,000 packages, or parcels, daily – a number that triples over the holidays.

“This time of year, we have 15,000 to 18,000 parcels per day, which is exceeding what we had around this time last year by 20 percent,” Hines said. The station typically reaches the 15,000 mark the week before Christmas, but this year it hit that number the week before Thanksgiving.

Carriers put in “extra leg work” during the holidays, said Hines, who arrived at the post office at 6 a.m. on a recent day with about 10 days left before Christmas.

Colbert, a Clarksburg resident, started his deliveries at 7 a.m. and returned to the station an hour later to prepare for his usual route on the other side of U.S. 40, behind H Mart grocery store. Some carriers were starting between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m.

“My route is near the office, so I don’t think it’s necessary for me to get here that early,” Colbert said.

The branch has 48 city carriers and 60 rural carriers, Hines said, including part-timers who work four- to eight-hour days. Inside the warehouse-sized mail room, 25 clerks take mail through an obstacle course of scanning and sorting, organizing postcards, letters, flats and parcels by route and rural or city destinations.

In recent weeks the holiday mail has traded off-white envelopes and brown boxes for brightly colored letters and festive wrapping paper.

“In November and December, the number of parcels are greater and with the manpower we have, we might have to work a little bit longer,” Hines said. “Between October and January is the busiest time of year because a lot of people are ordering gifts and we get returns after Christmas.”

Before entering the field in 1995, Colbert said, he worked in retail, but saw the Postal Service as a good way to enter the middle class and receive benefit and retirement opportunities. He has had the same route for the past 14 years, which he said allows him to get to know his community.

“You get to see people up close regardless of their stage in life,” Colbert said. “I look to make them happy, but at the same time, I stay in my lane. I don’t judge. You also follow certain patterns: Some people are always gone on vacation or I know to be alerted if Miss Gladys doesn’t come and get her mail at a certain time.”

HeartLands Village at Ellicott City, a retirement community, was Colbert’s fourth stop that day, when he greeted the receptionist with a smiling face and a chipper “Good morning!”

The carrier placed some parcels at the front desk and then walked around the corner to the building’s mail room. Colbert used his keys to open the other side of residents’ mail lockers — about 180 total — and scanned a few bar codes above them.

“This lets the post office know I’m still moving and how much of the route has been done,” he said. For the next 40 minutes, Colbert glanced at the mail in his hands and put everything in the appropriate locker.

Colbert said what became the “hardest job ever” when he started 22 years ago evolved into a fun, simple job for those who “aren’t afraid of hard work.”

Postal workers tend to “cringe” this time of year as holiday gifts roll in and they know longer hours aren’t far behind, he said. After all, the job isn’t done until everything has been delivered that day.

“I start early, but my days are longer. You become exhausted, but some part of it is always fun because everyone is looking for those delivered presents [for holidays] from Hanukkah to Kwanzaa,” Colbert said.

“I’ve been telling my customers that the whole month of December is one long day,” he said.

He said the unofficial creed of the U.S. Postal Service rings true: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

“?‘Blustery’ is the word the weather service used to describe tonight,” said Colbert, wearing six layers of clothing and a head warmer. “When I hear that word, I go heavy on top. You have to protect yourself.”

Around noon, Colbert proceeded to his next stop at the Enclave at Ellicott Hills. Unlike his previous stop, mail lockers were outside. The wind picked up, but Colbert still had a smile on his face.

“I like the outdoors. If I had to stay indoors, I would’ve definitely looked for another job,” he said, laughing.

Colbert delivered packages that could not fit into the mail lockers to residents’ front porches, including the home of Bill Kotwas.

“I was in the hospital and I missed you,” said Kotwas, who opened the door to shake hands with Colbert. “Thank you for doing a good job.”

“Thank you, sir. I’m glad you’re feel better,” Colbert replied.

After they wished each other happy holidays, Colbert walked back to his van.

“That’s what it’s all about,” he said. “That’s the thing that I like since I’ve been a carrier.”

anmichaels@baltsun.com