WASHINGTON — Holiday mailing deadlines are fast approaching, and the United States Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 850 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day and more than 15 billion total pieces of mail this holiday season. Whether customers shop on Black Friday, Cyber Monday or both, they can relax knowing packages will arrive at their destination on time for the holidays.

Customers planning to ship packages are encouraged to visit a local Post Office no later than the below dates for expected delivery by Dec. 25 to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office and domestic addresses:*

• Dec. 11 – APO/FPO/DPO Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
• Dec. 14 – USPS Retail Ground
• Dec. 15 – Hawaii to Mainland Priority Mail and First-Class
• Dec. 16 – First-Class Packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
• Dec. 19 – First-Class Mail (including greeting cards)
• Dec. 20 – Priority Mail
• Dec. 20 – Hawaii to Mainland Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 20 – Alaska to Mainland Priority Mail and First-Class
• Dec. 21 – Alaska to Mainland Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 22 – Priority Mail Express

To send packages to loved ones serving in the military and diplomatic posts abroad, the Postal Service offers a discounted price of $17.35 on its largest Priority Mail Flat Rate Box. The price includes a $1.50 per-box discount for mail sent to APO/FPO/DPO destinations worldwide.

To handle the surge in volume, the Postal Service is expanding its Sunday delivery operations in select high package volume locations during the holiday season. More than 6 million packages are expected to be delivered each Sunday in December. Mail carriers will also deliver Priority Mail Express packages on Christmas Day for an additional fee in select locations.

Busiest Week
With the increase in early and online gift shopping, the Postal Service no longer has a “busiest day” for holiday shipping. Customer mailing and shipping traffic is expected to increase beginning Dec. 11, with the week of Dec. 18 to 24 predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week, when nearly 3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail, including greeting cards, will be processed and delivered. The Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 200 million packages per week from Dec. 11 to 24.

Ship Online from Home
The Postal Service’s busiest day online is predicted to be Dec. 18 when more than 7 million customers avoid holiday hassles and visit usps.com for help sending special gifts. Millions of customers will take advantage of convenient online services, like Click-N-Ship, to order free Priority Mail boxes, print shipping labels, purchase postage and request free next-day Package Pickup. And usps.comis always open.

Holiday Advertising Campaign
The Postal Service’s 2017 holiday campaign features direct mail, TV, radio, print, digital and social media promotions highlighting the organization’s proud tradition of delivering cheer and value to consumers and businesses.

The first of several TV spots began airing Nov. 6 and can be viewed on USPS TV. A direct mail piece with information customers need to know for the holidays will be mailed to 105.2 million homes by Thanksgiving.

Additional Tips
The Postal Service’s new feature, Informed Delivery, makes tracking packages easy. The tool allows eligible customers to view incoming mail, track packages and reschedule deliveries. Customers can sign-up for free at usps.com/informeddelivery.

The Postal Service offers shipping tips in 10 video “how to” guides. Each video is less than three minutes long and shows customers how to address packages, ship packages and pack a box so items arrive safely.

Additional news and information, including all domestic, international and military mailing, and shipping deadlines, can be found at the Postal Service Holiday Newsroom at usps.com/holidaynews.

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 Posts blog (uspsblog.com).

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