Deadlines Near for Sending Christmas Packages

Christmas is just over a week away and the US Postal Service says today is the last day to mail parcels via retail ground service if you want your package to arrive in time for Christmas.

The deadline for First-class mail service is Friday, December 17 and the deadline for Priority Mail Service is this Saturday, December 18.

Those dates apply only if you want to send your packages to addresses in the lower 48 states. Check with your post office for the deadlines to mail packages to Alaska or Hawaii.

And the deadlines to send any packages overseas are between December 6 and December 20, depending on where it’s going and how you want to mail it.

And if you’re running late you can still send your packages as late as December 23 via Priority Mail Express but it will cost more, according to Susie Rowland with the Lavonia Post Office.

And when mailing packages, Rowland says you need to make sure you have a sturdy box and that the box is well taped with sturdy shipping tape, not scotch tape.

Also, Rowland says if you are sending something fragile, you need to let the postal workers know.

And if you’re planning to send those special Christmas cookies you always make to loved ones and friends or some other perishable food items, Rowland said the post office also needs to know that.

This year, the Postal Service anticipates that between 850 to 950-million packages will be delivered for the holidays.

And the total number of letters, cards, and packages processed and delivered between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day is estimated to be more than 12 billion.