Deadline looms for mailing gifts
Published 9:54 pm Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Anyone going postal with gifts and cards for Christmas better hurry.
Today is the deadline for all mail bound for overseas, according to the USPS website.
December 20 is the deadline for first class or Priority mail in the U.S. and Dec. 23 is the last day to Express Mail for delivery in time for Christmas.
In Demopolis, Post Office Clerk Shasta Claunch said her recommendation is that residents with outbound packages wait no later than Saturday for Priority Mail, which is generally delivered in two to three days.
First Class letters or cards should also be mailed by Saturday, “unless they are going to local homes or businesses,” she said. “The only guaranteed (USPS mail) service is Overnight Express.”
The local post office will be open on Christmas Eve, but will close on Christmas Day. Some larger areas will have Post Office hours on Christmas and in those areas some last minute deliveries will be made.
This holiday season has been quite busy at the Demopolis Post Office, with two trucks per day shipping cards, letters and packages to their destinations. Claunch said this year may have been as busy or only slightly less so, than last year.