USPS announces holiday shipping deadlines
TAMPA (FOX 13) - The United States Postal Service expects to deliver 16 billion pieces of mail this holiday season, a 12-percent increase from last year.
To help customers make sure their packages will arrive when they are supposed to, USPS is The Postal Service is hiring more than 35,000 seasonal employees, and adding extra delivery days throughout December. While the Postal Service already delivers packages on Sunday in most major cities, following the success of past holiday seasons, it will expand Sunday delivery operations to all locations with high package volumes beginning Nov. 27.
More than five million packages are expected to be delivered each Sunday in December. Mail carriers will also deliver packages on Christmas Day in select locations.
But the most important factor that determines if your packages arrive on time is when you ship it out. USPS released this season's delivery deadlines so that customers can plan ahead.
Here are the dates:
- Nov. 7 - APO/FPO/DPO USPS Retail Ground
- Dec. 9 - APO/FPO/DPO Priority Mail & First Class Mail
- Dec. 15 - USPS Retail Ground
- Dec. 20 - First Class Mail
- Dec. 21 - Priority Mail
- Dec. 23 - Priority Mail Express