The United States Postal Service is nearing the end of their busiest week of the year. According to a news release from the company, the agency expects to process and deliver nearly 3 billion pieces of mail, which includes packages, this week alone. In the two weeks leading up to Christmas, Dec. 10-23, the Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 200 million packages each week.
The news release further explains that the agency is expecting to relieved nearly 15 billion total pieces of mail and more than 900 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
2018 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:
November 6
- APO/FPO/DPO (all ZIP Codes) USPS Retail Ground
December 4
- APO/FPO/DPO (ZIP Code 093 only) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
December 11
- APO/FPO/DPO (all other ZIP Codes) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
December 14
- USPS Retail Ground
December 18
- APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express
December 20
- First-Class Mail (including greeting cards)
- First-class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
- Alaska to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
- Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
- Priority Mail
December 22
- Alaska to mainland Priority Mail Express
- Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail Express
- Priority Mail Express
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 December 10, customer traffic is expected to increase and the Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 200 million packages per week during these two weeks. The week of December 17-23 is predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week.
During this week alone, the Postal Service expects to process and deliver nearly 3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail, including greeting cards.
