COLORADO SPRINGS — With the holidays in full swing, the United States Postal Service expects to handle up to 88 million packages per day in December, making it crucial for shoppers to ship presents before the deadline to ensure gifts arrive on time.
Figuring out what presents to buy and securing the best deals are the first steps in getting the best holiday gifts. Next is making sure you have time to ship those presents, and if you haven't already, now is the time.
"I usually like to do it early so I know it gets there on time," said Mary, one of many customers at a UPS store in Colorado Springs trying to mail Christmas gifts to her family.
"I am mostly mailing items off their list but I think there are a couple of good things," Mary said.
She hopes all the presents get there in time.
"It should be there by Monday the 22nd or the 23rd at the latest," Mary said.
According to UPS, their holiday deadlines are typically around December 19 for 3-day select shipping.
"You probably don't want to wait any longer than today to ship things out," Mary said.
Thursday is the last day to mail a package to arrive before Christmas using USPS Priority Mail. Priority Mail takes one to three business days to arrive.
The deadline for Priority Mail Express items is Saturday, December 20. They take one to three days to ship.
But the longer you wait to ship, the more it will cost you. With USPS, slower mail options are around $7.20, and to get the gifts there faster could cost $32.50. Package size and weight also impact the cost.
As for FedEx, these are the recommended shipping dates for packages to arrive by Christmas Eve, December 24. Thursday is the FedEx Home Delivery 4-day shipping deadline.
- FedEx Home Delivery 4-Day Shipping: Dec. 18
- FedEx Home Delivery 3-Day Shipping: Dec. 19
- FedEx Home Delivery 2-Day Shipping: Dec. 22
- FedEx Home Delivery 1-Day Shipping: Dec. 23
- FedEx First Overnight, FedEx Priority Overnight, FedEx Standard Overnight: Dec. 23
- FedEx Same Day: Dec. 24
- FedEx Ground Economy: Dec. 15
- FedEx Ground 4-Day Shipping: Dec. 18
- FedEx Ground 3-Day Shipping: Dec. 19
- FedEx Ground 2-Day Shipping: Dec. 22
- FedEx Ground 1-Day Shipping: Dec. 23
According to USPS, post office locations nationwide will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day.
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Officials told us they believe these fires were caused by downed power lines. The Scripps News Group is working to gather more information and will have a crew reporting the latest updates.
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