Santa had some serious help in the District Monday morning in the form of 200 FedEx Express employees who showed up early to brace for what was projected to be the heaviest shipping day of the year.

“We started at 5 a.m. today — normally, on a Monday, we start at about 6:10, and 7 on other days” said Prentiss Gates, a FedEx carrier and facility coordinator, as packages from Toshiba, L.L. Bean and Victoria’s Secret floated past him on conveyor belts.