This year, the Postal Service™ is reminding employees and customers that the holidays are our time to deliver. We have prepared all year for this season, and are ready to deliver across the country. Here are some important details to prepare for your holiday mailings.
New This Year
The Postal Service will offer an expanded package delivery window — delivery in the morning, afternoon, early evening, and Sundays, where volume warrants.
We have also expanded operational capacity with new equipment:
n 1 Small Parcel Sort System (SPSS).
n 20 Automated Delivery Unit Sorters (ADUS).
n 14 High Speed Universal Sorter (HSUS).
n 1 High Distribution Universal Sorter (HDUS).
n Robust Bulk Unloading Systems (RBUS).
Custom Solutions for Sending Holiday Packages
The Postal Service is uniquely qualified to deliver the holidays by offering a variety of custom solutions designed to make sending holiday packages easy:
n Packages that have stamps as postage and are more than one-half inch thick and/or weighing more than 10 ounces must be taken to a retail counter for drop off. Alternatively, customers can use a self-service kiosk for a postage label and drop off the package in a Post Office package slot, not a mail slot.
n Get free Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express boxes and envelopes in Post Offices or online at usps.com/freeboxes.
n Skip the line and use self-service kiosks located in larger Post Offices to weigh, pay postage, and deposit your packages.
n Use Click-N-Ship online at usps.com/ship to create shipping labels with USPS Tracking®, pay postage, or use flat rate shipping products to avoid weighing packages.
n With free Package Pickup, your package can be handed to your mail carrier on his or her regular delivery route or you can schedule a pickup. For details on availability, visit usps.com/pickup.
n Take your packages to the retail counter at any Post Office.
* Boxes are delivered in the U.S. with regular mail usually within 7 to 10 business days. Exclusions apply. For details and to order, visit store.usps.com/store.
Custom Solutions to Help With Receiving Holiday Packages
The Postal Service also offers a variety of custom solutions designed to make receiving holiday packages more convenient:
n Informed Delivery® (informeddelivery.com) is the free daily digital preview of what is coming to your mailbox. You can see what mail is coming to your mailbox, manage your packages by providing delivery instructions or reschedule delivery online, and see some exterior images of magazines and catalogs — all from your mobile app, dashboard, tablet, or computer.
n Customers can also request the package be held at a Post Office by choosing the Hold for Pickup option in the Informed Delivery app (informeddelivery.com), or online at reg.usps.com/login?app=HOLDMAIL&appURL=https%3A%2F%2Fholdmail.usps.com%2Fholdmail%2F.
n Customers who know they won’t be home when a package is delivered can use USPS Package Intercept® (usps.com/manage/package-intercept.htm). Before delivery, most domestic package shipments can be redirected back to the sender, to a new address (a neighbor, perhaps), or to the Post Office to be held for pickup.