Holiday shipping deadlines are fast approaching

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) –The holidays are just a week and a half away and the deadline for shipping items is even closer.

Susan Wright, with the US Postal Service, says they are in the midst of their peak season.

She adds this year, people have 5 days less between Thanksgiving and Christmas to get everything sent out.

“So the first deadline that customers need to be aware of is December 18th,” said Wright. “That is for our first class mail, which are things like Christmas cards and the dreaded Christmas letter. On December 19th we have our deadline for priority mail.”

For the ultimate procrastinator, December 21st is the deadline for priority mail express.

This week is anticipated to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivering week.

“We want our customers to know the postal service is ready for peak season. We have increased our processing capacity to up to 60 million pieces per day, so we are ready to deliver the holidays for our customers.”

Wright adds that all deadlines pertain to mailing in the U.S.

“So we encourage customers to get their packages mailed early just so you can enjoy the holidays yourself.”

For services such as FedEx and UPS, shipping deadlines are similar to USPS.

All shipping deadlines also include Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.