DULUTH, GA — The U.S. Postal Service has a solution for procrastinators who still haven’t mailed their holiday gifts and greetings. Express Mail Overnight Service is a guaranteed service with delivery to most areas of the country.  Express Mail is delivered 365 days throughout the year and can be mailed as late as Christmas Eve for delivery on Christmas day.

Express Mail rates start at 12.95 for the first half pound.  Other rates will vary depending on weight and distance. You can also choose the convenient Flat-Rate Envelope for only $18.95, regardless of weight and distance.

Postal officials want to remind you that most area post offices will close at noon on Christmas Eve, Monday, Dec. 24, and New Year’s Eve, Monday, Dec. 31. Two post offices -- Atlanta Main Post Office, 3900 Crown Road, Atlanta and the Boggs Road Postal Store, 1605 Boggs Road, Duluth -- will close at 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.  Regular mail delivery for Dec. 24 and 31 will be unaffected by the change.

Post Offices will be closed Tuesday, Dec. 25 and Tuesday, Jan. 1. Only Express Mail will be delivered on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. All Post Offices will be open and regular mail delivery will resume on Wednesday, Dec. 26 and Wednesday, Jan. 2
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Customers are also reminded that mail dropped into blue collection boxes should be deposited by noon on Dec. 24 and 31, regardless of the final collection times posted. If the final collection time is already before noon (12 p.m.), there will be no change. However, if the final collection time is normally after noon (12 p.m.), mail may be collected early.

Last minute mailers can also save time at the post office by using the Self-Service Ship and Mail Centers, available at many area post offices. They accept debit and credit cards and can be used to purchase postage, mail packages and obtain mailing information, such as ZIP Codes.  Most are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation — 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office™ Boxes. The Postal Service™ receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com®, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, Oxford Strategic Consulting ranked the U.S. Postal Service number one in overall service performance of the posts in the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

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