DETROIT, MI — With the holidays and online shopping in full swing, the Postal Service is delivering more cards, letters, and packages every day. This means our customers will start to see postal employees delivering packages earlier in the morning, later in the evening, and on Sundays.

“The Postal Service is well prepared to meet our customers’ needs during the holiday season,” says Detroit District Manager Karlett Gilbert. “We ask customers that are expecting a package to please turn on their porch light so our letter carriers can deliver safely.”

Holiday mailing deadlines are fast approaching. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the Postal Service expects to deliver more than 900 million packages and nearly 15 billion pieces of mail – for a total of nearly 16 billion cheerful deliveries this holiday season.

Customers planning to mail cards and packages are encouraged to visit a local Post Office no later than the below dates for expected delivery by Dec. 25.

• Dec. 14 – USPS Retail Ground
• Dec. 20 – First-Class Mail (including greeting cards)
• Dec. 20 – First-Class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
• Dec. 20 – Priority Mail
• Dec. 22 – Priority Mail Express

The notion of a “busiest day” is a thing of the past, thanks to the increase in early and online gift shopping. Customer mailing and shipping traffic is expected to increase beginning Dec. 10, and the Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 200 million packages per week during these two weeks. The week of Dec. 17-23 is 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.

Visit the Postal Service Holiday Newsroom at usps.com/holidaynews to get the full list of deadlines, pricing and shipping tips.

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

###