North Pole, Alaska – 'It was a week before Christmas and there was a lot of activity at Santa Claus' house in North Pole City, Alaska.
The iconic Christmas-themed store checked its inventory twice, realizing that it was more naughty than nice if any of the gifts it sent arrived late to their destinations around the world.
“People are accustomed to waiting until the last minute to shop online, which presents a challenge for us to process that order and ship it out of Alaska,” said Paul Brown, manager of Santa Claus House. Sending thousands of annual Santa letters to children around the world.
In North Pole, located about 13 miles southeast of Fairbanks, candy canes serve as street lights, and Christmas holds special meaning for resident and FedEx driver Bill Soplu.
“Yes, it's a wonderful time of year,” Soplu said. “Everyone is very happy right now, so it makes our job a lot easier.”
The cold weather doesn't dampen Suplou's enthusiasm.
“Just the other day it was above 30, you know, and then you wake up the next morning, it's below 30,” he said.
Neither do moose.
He added, “We don't want to mess with those people.”
The gift Soplu is delivering comes from an airfield 20 miles down the frozen road. There are only a few hours of daylight in Fairbanks during the winter months, and temperatures hover around zero.
An average of 3,000 packages come through Fairbanks daily during the holiday season. Captain Joseph Erickson is a delivery pilot for FedEx.
“I know there's a good chance there's a special gift on that plane and it's important to get it to that family,” Erickson told CBS News.
Before reaching Fairbanks, shipments from around the world first come through a massive FedEx sorting center at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
During the holidays, there are 33 delivery planes a day that fly in and out of Anchorage carrying approximately 80,000 packages. Planes operate around the clock so gifts can be delivered around the world in as little as 24 hours.
“We've been implementing these plans for months to make sure we're delivering those packages to our customers,” said David Lewis, senior manager of FedEx surface operations in Alaska.
