Many factors go into creating your holiday plans, but one thing that remains the same is sending gifts to people for the holidays. The USPS says that regardless of how many packages and greetings you drop in the mail, it’s always important to mail your gifts and cards early. For the 2021 peak season – the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day – the United States Postal Service is expected to deliver between 850 million and 950 million packages for the holiday. The total number of letters, cards and packages processed and delivered is estimated to be more than 12 billion, according to a USPS press release.
On November 28th, the Service expanded Sunday delivery to locations with high package volumes, not including already doing so in most major cities. They expect to deliver more than 9.7 million packages each Sunday through the holiday season. Mail carriers will also deliver packages for an additional fee on Christmas Day in select locations.
The busiest time of the year begins two weeks before Christmas. It’s anticipated that customer traffic at all Post Office locations will steadily increase. The week of December 13-18 is expected to be the busiest mailing, shipping, and delivery week. In addition, USPS predicts that nearly 2.3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail, including greeting cards and packages, will be processed and delivered the week of December 13th.
When you’re thinking about holiday shopping this year the problems extend beyond supply chain issues. Retail experts say for the 2021 holiday season, last minute is sooner than you think. ABC’s Deirdre Bolton says:
“December 15th is the last day for retail ground shipping for the post office, UPS and FedEx. You can push it a few more days …If you are willing to pay for Priority for USPS …Or for select service from either of the two commercial carriers. But no matter what gifts you are choosing the earlier you shop and send, the better.”
The USPS recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for expected delivery by December 25th to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) and domestic addresses:
- 15 — USPS Retail Ground service
- 16 — APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express Military service
- 17 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
- 17 — First-Class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
- 18 — Priority Mail service
- 23 — Priority Mail Express* service
Alaska to/from Continental U.S.
- 18 — First-Class Mail
- 18 — Priority Mail
- 21 — Priority Mail Express