Deadlines loom for Christmas shipping

AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - The countdown to Christmas has begun, and if you plan on mailing cards or shipping gifts, there are some fast-approaching deadlines that you need to keep in mind.

The window of opportunity for getting your packages to their destinations is closing quickly. Monday is the last day to ship using ground services. Starting Tuesday, you will have to pay a little extra.

The U.S Postal service expects to ship more than 600 million pieces of mail on Monday alone; making it the busiest day of the year. The Amherst post office on University Drive was filled with people making a last minute attempt to get gifts and cards to their loved ones.

“This is the first gift that I've mailed, and I didn't know today was going to be busiest day in the year,” Derek Davis of Amherst said. “I did see a lot of cars in the parking lot, I just happened to get in here at the right time and I beat the rush.”

Mary Beth Braidegam of Amherst told 22News she missed the deadline for international mailings.  She mailed 50 Christmas cards on Monday.  "Unfortunately some of them are to foreign countries so I didn’t get them out soon enough. They won’t get them on time, but they do say happy new year to," said Braidegam.

If you want your package to be delivered before Christmas, here is a list of mail-by dates:

U.S. Postal Service

Dec. 17 Global Express Guaranteed
Dec. 20 First-Class Mail
Dec. 21 Priority Mail
Dec. 22 Express Mail

UPS

Dec. 20 UPS 2nd Day Air
Dec. 21 UPS Next-day Air

FedEx

Dec. 17 FedEx Express Saver
Dec. 20 FedEx Two-Day
Dec. 22 FedEx Overnight
Dec. 25 FedEx SameDay

Remember to double-check your addresses, and make sure you have the right zip code; the postmaster says having no zip code will slow down the delivery process.