Whether youâre using brown-paper packages tied up with string â or something less traditional â this holiday season, the U.S. Postal Service has come out with its recommendations for getting those gifts to loved ones on time.
USPS employees sort packages at a distribution center less than two weeks before Christmas on Dec. 13, 2023, in Henderson, Nevada. (Daniel Pearson/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS)
If youâre hoping to send items to those in the lower-48 states, here are the holiday mailing and shipping dates to keep in mind, according to the USPS.
âUSPS Ground Advantage service: Dec. 18
âFirst-Class Mail service: Dec. 18
âPriority Mail service: Dec. 19
âPriority Mail Express service: Dec. 21
For those with an eye on Alaska and Hawaii, the dates skew earlier:
âUSPS Ground Advantage service: Dec. 16
âFirst-Class Mail service: Dec. 18
âPriority Mail service: Dec. 19
âPriority Mail Express service: Dec. 20
For 2024, the shipping activity is expected to be part of bigger budgets for holiday shopping. While nearly two in three consumers say inflation will probably influence spending this year, overall spending is projected to increase by 7% to an average of $1,638 per shopper, according to a report by PWC.
The holiday season is a busy time for shipping items. Last year, between Nov. 25 and Dec. 18 at about noon, the number of letters, cards and packages that the USPS accepted was more than 9.6 billion, it said.
This year, Hanukkah begins on Dec. 25 and continues until Jan. 2 while Kwanzaa is Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Beyond the U.S., the USPS suggests checking a list of recommended holiday mailing and shipping dates at usps.com/holidayshippingdates. That goes for military addresses as well.
The U.S. Postal Service urges folks to plan ahead and ship early. For tips on preparing shipments and information on local sites, visit usps.com.
14 fun facts about your mail
1. Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster general in U.S. history
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Before 1971, the postmaster general was a member of the presidentâs Cabinet.
2. The Postal Service processed and delivered 425.3 million pieces of mail per day in 2021.
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3. There are more than 139,868 blue mail collection boxes in the U.S.
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4. There are 31,247 Postal Service-managed retail offices.
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5. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm of USPS.
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In 2021, inspectors carried out 5,141 arrests and 3,784 convictions for postal crimes, including mail theft and mail fraud.
6. The U.S. Postal Service has no official motto.
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The quote often thought to be its motto â "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" â is inscribed on the James A. Farley Post Office in New York City and comes from the ancient Persian historian Herodotus.
7. USPS generally receives no tax dollars, and funds itself through the sale of postage and other services.
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8. Contrary to popular belief, the Pony Express was never officially a part of the U.S. Postal Service.
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The official name of the Pony Express was the Overland Express Route.
9. The Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp has raised more than $93.9 million for breast cancer research since 1998.
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More than 1.09 billion stamps have been sold.
10. The Alzheimerâs semipostal has raised more than $1.2 million since 2017.
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11. The Save Vanishing Species semipostal has raised more than $6.6 million since 2011.
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More than 59.2 million Save Vanishing Species stamps have been sold.
12. The United Kingdomâs iconic red mail collection boxes are called pillar boxes.
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After the 2012 London Olympics, pillar boxes in the hometowns of gold medalists were painted gold.
13. The United Nations has an agency called the Universal Postal Union that coordinates postal policy internationally.
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14. If it were a private sector company, the Postal Service would rank 43rd in the 2021 Fortune 500.
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In the 2021 Global Fortune 500 list, it ranked 123rd.
