Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
If you are like the millions of Americans across the country who do a lot of their holiday shopping online, you’ve probably become familiar with your delivery driver this time of year.
Last holiday season, Americans shipped more than 50 million packages with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), according to the US Government Accountability Office’s website.
According to Digital Commerce 360, as of January 2021, FedEx, UPS, USPS, Amazon and regional carriers delivered more than 3 billion parcels during the 2020 holiday season.
We all know how important it is to receive our Christmas presents on time and parcel carriers work tirelessly to make sure that happens. ShipMatrix said delivery carriers are showing positive numbers for on-time deliveries so far this season, so delays aren’t anticipated. In order to receive items when you need them you have to be sure and ship them by each company's deadlines.
Deadlines to arrive by Christmas
The United States Postal Service’s deadlines to arrive by Christmas are Dec. 17 for First Class Mail Service, Dec. 19 Priority Mail Service, and Dec. 23 for Priority Mail Express Service.
UPS deadlines for U.S. delivery by Dec. 24 are December 20 for 3-day select, Dec. 21 for 2nd Day Air, December 22 for Next Day Air, and for UPS Ground you can check UPS website for a custom calculation.
For FedEx delivery by Dec. 25, you must ship by Dec. 14 for FedEx Ground, Dec. 20 FedEx Express Saver, 3 Day Freight, Dec. 21 for FedEx 2 Day, Dec. 22 FedEx 1 Day, Extra Hours, and Dec. 23 for FedEx SameDay.
The busiest week at the local post office is expected to be this week, Dec. 12-16.
With the local post office is having staffing issues and most carriers are overwhelmed with the number of packages, USPS encourages patrons to be patient.
You can even show your postal worker or delivery driver some Christmas spirit, as videos fly on social media with ideas for treat boxes with snacks outside your home, thanking your drivers.