WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service announced that Monday, Dec. 19, will be the busiest mailing day of the year. Of the 12 million customers visiting the nation’s 31,000 plus Post Offices, 7 million will visit the world’s largest Post Office — usps.com.

“With a click of your mouse you can ship from your house,” said U.S. Postal Service Chief Customer and Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Jim Cochrane, referring to the ability to schedule next-day package pickup online at usps.com. “Our dedicated employees are ready to serve our customers with prompt service. Doing business with us is fast and easy during the busy holiday season and all year long. And with usps.com, your Post Office is as close as your desktop or smartphone. Additionally, you can buy stamps and postal products at more than 64,000 grocery stores, drug stores, office supply stores, ATMs and other locations.”

During fiscal 2016 (Oct. 1, 2015-Sept. 30, 2016) usps.com generated more than $1 billion in sales from more than 54 million transactions. On an average day, more than 2.7 million customers conduct business among the nation’s brick and mortar Post Offices while nearly 4.7 million customers visit usps.com.

At usps.com, customers can purchase stamps, calculate postage, mail packages and conduct virtually any service offered at brick-and-mortar Post Offices:  

• Buy Stamps and Mailing Supplies — Visit the Postal Store to purchase stamps and order free shipping supplies, including boxes.
• Calculate Postage — The postage price calculator provides estimates for mailing packages, domestically or internationally.
• Ship Packages — Use Click-N-Ship as a stress-free tool to pay postage and print shipping labels for holiday gifts from a mobile device or desktop computer. Sign up to start creating shipping labels and pay for the postage online.
• Schedule a Free Package Pickup — Schedule a Pickup and a carrier will pick up the package during regular delivery. Multiple pickups can be requested once an account is created. Letter carriers pick up shipments free during regular mail delivery for customers using an expedited service such as Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, International or a Return Service.
• Ship Internationally — Make international shipping easier when printing a shipping label from home. Use the built-in address form to transfer information into country-specific customs forms. 
• Track Packages — My USPS is an easy way to receive updates for incoming packages with real-time delivery notifications available within a few minutes of the delivery scan for select packages. My USPS filters updates for all incoming packages into one central dashboard accessible on mobile devices and desktop computers.
• Hold Mail — Going away for the holidays? Take advantage of the Request Hold Mail Service. All your mail is kept safely at the local Post Office until you return.
• Forward Mail — For a fee, mail can be held, packaged and shipped weekly by Priority Mail using Premium Forward Service.

The Smartphone Post Office
Customers can do all of this — all from the comfort of their homes or on the go — by going to usps.com, or downloading the USPS Mobile app on iOS or Android devices and putting these services right at their fingertips.

Using smartphones, customers can take advantage of the following features:
USPS Tracking, MY USPS, Ship Online, Buy Stamps, Calculate (or Look Up) Prices, Find a Post Office Location, Look up a ZIP Code, Schedule a Pickup, Hold Mail and Change My Address.

Delivering for the Holidays
The Postal Service expects to deliver approximately 16 billion cards, letters and packages this holiday season.  As the world’s largest e-commerce deliverer, the Postal Service is projecting about 750 million packages will be delivered this holiday season, a 12-percent increase compared to last year.

In time for the holidays, the Postal Service is offering real-time delivery notifications. Customers who sign up for alerts at My USPS will receive an email or text notification for select packages within a few minutes of when the letter carrier delivers and scans the parcel.

For additional news and updates throughout the season, visit the Postal Service’s Newsroom,  Holiday Newsroom and DeliverCheer.com.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at about.usps.com/news/welcome.htm.

More USPS holiday news, including shipping deadlines and Santa mail, can be found at usps.com/holidaynews.

For reporters interested in speaking with a regional Postal Service public relations professional, please go to about.usps.com/news/media-contacts/usps-local-media-contacts.pdf. Follow us on Twitter (twitter.com/usps), Instagram (instagram.com/uspostalservice), Pinterest (pinterest.com/uspsstamps), LinkedIn (linkedin.com/company/usps), subscribe to our channel on YouTube (youtube.com/usps), like us on Facebook (facebook.com/usps) and view our Postal Postsblog (uspsblog.com).

For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and usps.com/postalfacts.