US Postal Service Grappling With Record Shipments This Holiday Season
Shipping services working around the clock to handle record package numbers this holiday season.
“We’re flexing our network and flexing our work staff,” said Postal Service spokesman David Rupert. “We’re sending out carriers at first light, as early as 6 a.m., and they’ll be out through the evening.”
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The Postal Service is breaking all-time package delivery records this holiday season with a 10% jump in deliveries nationally and over 10% in Colorado from last year.
“We’re talking in the millions of packages, so that’s a big jump,” Rupert said.
The number isn’t daunting to the Postal Service, though, who expects to get all packages delivered on time. Many neighborhoods will see mail carriers delivering packages on Sunday, and post office workers will be working 24 hours a day to sort through the influx of parcels.
Make sure to ship your gifts before the Postal Service, FedEx and UPS Inc. shipping deadlines. UPS ranks No. 1 and FedEx No. 2 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest North American for-hire carriers.
U.S. Postal Service
USPS Retail Ground: Dec. 14
First-Class Mail Service: Dec. 19
Priority Mail Service: Dec. 20
Priority Mail Express Service: Dec. 22
Alaska: First-Class Mail Service and Priority Mail Service, Dec. 20. Priority Mail Express Service, Dec. 21
Hawaii: First-Class Mail Service and Priority Mail Service, Dec. 15. Priority Mail Express Service, Dec. 20
Priority Mail Express Miliatry Service: Dec. 16
For those shipping overseas, it's not too late to send a package. The Postal Service's deadlines for Global Express Guaranteed Service are as follows:
Middle East: Dec. 18
Africa, Asia/Pacific Rim, Australia and New Zealand: Dec. 19
Central & South America, Mexico, Europe: Dec. 20
Canada, Caribbean: Dec. 21
FedEx
Ground: Dec. 15
FedEx Home Delivery: Dec. 18
FedEx Express Saver: Dec. 19
FedEx 2Day A.M., FedEx 2Day: Dec. Dec. 20
FedEx Standard Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, FedEx First Overnight: Dec. 21
FedEx customers will not be extra for residential package through Jan. 1.
UPS
UPS 3 Day Select: Dec. 18
UPS 2nd Day Air packages: Dec. 20
UPS Next Day Air: Dec. 21
UPS will not pickup or deliver on Dec. 24 or Dec. 25
