KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you’re mailing Christmas presents to someone, the United States Postal Service encourages you to put the item in the mail as soon as possible in order to guarantee it arrives in time for the holiday.
Mark Inglett, a USPS spokesperson based in Kansas City, Missouri, said the postal service expects this year to be the busiest holiday shipping season on record. Because of gathering limits in place to contain the novel coronavirus pandemic, many people are mailing presents instead of handing them to recipients in person.
“This will be historical volume; this is unprecedented,” Inglett said. “We’re the most trusted federal agency and we’re excited to help Santa Claus out and we want to make sure we can get everyone’s packages home on time, so please mail now.”
USPS posted a full list of shipping deadlines on its website. These are dates to remember in order to have presents arrive by Christmas Day:
- Dec. 18: First-Class Mail
- Dec. 19: Priority Mail
- Dec. 23: Priority Mail Express
Inglett recommends choosing the Priority Mail option at this point. He said that will raise the designation on the package, helping ensure it arrives ahead of the holiday.
This year, the postal service hired about twice as many seasonal employees as normal, according to Inglett.
He encourages people who are working from home to explore the Click-N-Ship option to mail packages directly from your house without visiting a post office.
