The U.S. Postal Service has announced recommended deadlines for mail delivery for the holiday season, according to a news release.

It expects to deliver about 15.5 billion cards, letters, flats, and packages during the season, and about 600 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve,

That marks a 10.5 percent increase over last year’s volume.
“Customers can count on the Postal Service and our more than 600,000 dedicated employees to deliver their holiday gifts, cards and letters,” Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan said in the news release. “We have been investing in our infrastructure including package sorting equipment, new delivery vehicles and scanning technology to expand our capacity, improve operating efficiency and provide real-time visibility.”

To meet those demands it intends to hire 30,000 employees.

The Postal Service will offer real-time delivery notifications so customers who sign up for alerts at myusps.com will receive notification within a few minutes of the delivery scan for select packages.

It again will deliver packages seven days a week in select major cities and high-volume areas beginning Nov. 29. They expect to deliver about five million packages every Sunday during December.

Dec. 14, will be the busiest mailing and shipping day, which also will be the busiest day online with more than seven million customers expected to visit usps.com/holiday.

Monday, Dec. 21, is expected to be the busiest delivery day for holiday packages, cards and letters. The Postal Service anticipates that more than 30 million packages will be delivered on the peak delivery day alone.

To keep pace with those dates, the Postal Service recommends keeping the following deadlines in mind:

  • Nov. 7 – Army Post Office, Fleet Post Office, Diplomatic Post Office -  Standard Post.
  • Dec. 8 – Priority Mail Express International.
  • Dec. 15 - Standard Post.
  • Dec. 19 - First Class Mail.
  • Dec. 19 – Global Express Guaranteed.
  • Dec. 21 - Priority Mail.
  • Dec. 23 - Priority Mail Express.

Full deadlines and additional details can be found here.

Consumers can also visit usps.com/holiday for more information and shipping options.

 

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