JACKSON, MS — The U.S. Postal Service is prepared for the holiday season, and whether customers need to ship quickly or have lots of time, there are many options throughout Mississippi.

Extended Retail Hours
With an eye on increasing convenience and availability on weekends and the heaviest holiday shipping days, there will be 10 postal facilities throughout Mississippi either opening or extending their hours from Saturday, Dec. 15 through Saturday, Dec. 22.  Jackson LeFleur Station will open on Sunday and Meridian Main Post Office will extend hours during weekdays. Locations with extended hours are listed below. In addition, several other Mississippi Post Offices not listed also offer regular retail hours on Saturdays.

 Self Service Kiosks

Customers may also utilize the 24/7 convenience of Self Service Kiosks, which sell holiday-themed stamps, postage, and accommodate shipping of most packages in the following Post Office lobbies:

Southaven – 7550 Airways Blvd.
Madison – 990 Hwy. 51
Ridgeland – 611 S. Pear Orchard Rd.
Jackson LeFleur Station – 1501 Jacksonian Plz.
Jackson Main PO – 401 E. South St.
Hattiesburg Main PO – 220 S. 40th Ave.
Gulfport Main PO – 11110 Hwy. 49
Ocean Springs – 1581 Bienville Blvd.

Busiest Mailing and Delivery Days

Thanks to more people shopping earlier and shopping online, the Postal Service’s “busiest day” notion is now a thing of the past. Instead, the Postal Service now has a busiest time, and it starts two weeks before Christmas. Beginning the week of Dec. 9, customer traffic is expected to increase, with the week of Dec. 16 - 22 predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week, with 200 million packages delivered.
Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, the Postal Service expects to deliver more than 800 million packages and nearly 13 billion pieces of mail – for a total of nearly 16 billion cheerful deliveries this holiday season. That includes package deliveries seven days a week in many communities, when 8 million packages are expected to be delivered each Sunday during this period.

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

2019 Holiday Shipping Deadlines

The Postal Service recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for expected delivery by Dec. 25 to Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office and domestic addresses*:

• Dec. 9   — APO/FPO/DPO (ZIP Code™ 093 only) Priority Mail® and First-Class Mail®
• Dec. 11 — APO/FPO/DPO (all other ZIP Codes) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail services
• Dec. 14 — USPS Retail Ground service
• Dec. 18 — APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express® service
• Dec. 20 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
• Dec. 20 — First-class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
• Dec. 21 — Priority Mail service
• Dec. 23 — Priority Mail Express* service

Alaska

• Dec. 18 — Alaska to mainland First-Class Mail service
• Dec. 19 — Alaska to mainland Priority Mail service
• Dec. 21 — Alaska to mainland Priority Mail Express service

Hawaii

• Dec. 19 — Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail services
• Dec. 21 — Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail Express service

*Not a guarantee, unless otherwise noted. Dates are for estimated delivery before December 25. Actual delivery date may vary depending on origin, destination, Post Office™ acceptance date and time and other conditions. Some restrictions apply. For Priority Mail Express® shipments mailed December 21 through December 25, the money-back guarantee applies only if the shipment was not delivered, or delivery was not attempted, within two (2) business days.
To send packages to loved ones serving in the military or at diplomatic posts abroad, the Postal Service offers a discounted price of $18.45 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.

Skip the Trip and Ship Online

Consumers don’t even have to leave home to ship their packages, simply visit usps.com. The Postal Service anticipates Dec. 16 will be the Postal Service’s busiest day online with more than 8.5 million consumers predicted to visit usps.com for help shipping that special holiday gift. And usps.comis always open.
It’s estimated nearly 400,000 consumers will use the Click-N-Ship® feature and other online services on Dec. 16 to order free Priority Mail boxes, print shipping labels, purchase postage and even request free next-day Package Pickup.

New this year

There have been some changes made to how you can ship your packages this year. For safety reasons, as of Oct. 1, you can no longer drop off stamped packages – which means using individual stamps as postage – that are more than one-half inch thick and/or weighing more than 10 ounces into blue collection boxes, building mail chutes, or Post Office mail slots. Instead you must go to a retail counter or use the self-service kiosk (SSK) to purchase a postage label. If you opt to use the SSK, to buy a postage label, you can drop off your package in the package slot, not the mail slot, at a Post Office. If a restricted package is found in a collection box, mail chute or lobby mail slot it will be returned to sender. Mail that is returned to sender will have a Customer Return Label attached explaining the restrictions and reason for return. So don’t take any chances this year, make sure to follow the new package mailing guidelines.
Click-N-Ship customers are unaffected by this change. 

Additional Tips

Informed Delivery is the Postal Service’s free daily digital preview of what’s coming to your mailbox. This holiday season, not only can you manage your packages and sneak a peek at cards headed your way, you can also see some exterior images of magazines and catalogs — all from your mobile app, dashboard, tablet or computer. Informed Delivery is one more way the Postal Service is helping you anticipate, communicate and celebrate this holiday season.

The Postal Service is also promoting its “Shipping Tips” videos series. The five segments, which are featured on the USPS Holiday Newsroom site, offer tips to customers on the basics of packing, addressing and mailing packages. One video, “How to Pack a Box,” available in English and Spanish, shows customers how to choose the right size box, and the right packing materials and reinforcements.

Another video, “How to Ship,” explains when to use Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and First-Class Mail. The video also highlights services such as Click-N-Ship, Certified Mail and Signature Confirmation. Other videos show customers how to send military mail and how to address a package.

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