GREENFIELD — Olga May mails a Christmas package to her daughter before the holiday rush begins each year. She’s not sending the gift to another state or city. It’s traveling all the way to Russia.
“I still have a chance,” Olga said, as she stuffed small gifts in a shipping box on Thursday afternoon at the Greenfield post office.
Next week marks the start of the busiest two weeks of the year for the U.S. Postal Service. Carriers expect to deliver nearly 200 million packages and a few billion pieces of mail, such as greeting cards, starting on Monday and lasting until Christmas Day, according to a postal service news release.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
In order to ensure delivery throughout the contiguous United States before Dec. 25, the Postal Service recommends people send priority mail packages and first-class mail no later than Dec. 20. Packages sent through the postal service’s Retail Ground, the slowest type of delivery service offered, should be mailed by Dec. 14.
May was up against a deadline: She had to mail out her package by Saturday so it could reach Russia before Christmas.
Greenfield resident Judy Stanger’s package to her granddaughters isn’t getting shipped overseas like May’s, but she’s also paying attention to the shapping calendar. On Thursday, Stanger mailed off a birthday present for one of her granddaughters in California, and next week she plans to send them a “Christmas teapot” as a gift for the holidays.
“We always have tea parties when I visit,” Stanger said.
Mary Dando, spokeswoman with the Greater Indiana District for the postal service, said post offices across the state have already been “inundated” more than last year from online purchases. Some carriers deliver packages from morning until evening during the holidays, Dando said, with some delivering on Sundays.
If shopping online or shipping gift themselves, Dando said people should be sure to make the Postal Service’s Dec. 20 deadline, or whatever deadline is stated on the store’s website, as many online retailers offer free two-day shipping during the holidays.
No Hancock County post offices will be open extra weekend hours, according to the postal service. A number of outlets in the metro area will be open Sunday and Dec. 16. The nearest ones are in Fishers and Castleton.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”USPS holiday shipping deadlines” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The U.S. Postal Service recommends mailing out packages by these dates in order for delivery before Dec. 25.
USPS Retail Ground — Dec. 14
First-Class Mail Service — Dec. 20
Priority Mail Service — Dec. 20
Priority Mail Express Service — Dec. 22
Source: U.S. Postal Service
[sc:pullout-text-end]
